CARNEGIE HALL WITH PERSPECTIVES SERIES THROUGHOUT THE SEASON
Mr. Kissin’s Perspectives Series Includes Performances with
Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic, and James Levine and The MET Orchestra;
Chamber Music with Itzhak Perlman and Mischa Maisky;
A Recital Program Performed Twice in One Week, and a
Performance of Music and Poetry Celebrating Jewish Traditions
 Celebrating 25 years since his Carnegie Hall debut, pianist Evgeny Kissin shares his extraordinary musicality with New York audiences over a series of six concerts as a 2015–2016 Perspectives artist.
Since launching Carnegie Hall’s centennial season in 1990 with a spectacular debut recital recorded live and released as a double album by BMG Classics, Mr. Kissin has earned the veneration and admiration of audiences worldwide as one of the most gifted classical pianists of his generation. His Perspectives series highlights his remarkable versatility, with Mr. Kissin performing two grand concertos with two New York orchestras at the beginning and end of the season, plus a program of piano trios by Schubert and Tchaikovsky with distinguished collaborators, and a solo recital performed twice within one week (the first pianist to do so at Carnegie Hall since Vladimir Horowitz in the 1970s). In another highlight of his series, Mr. Kissin celebrates Jewish cultural traditions with a special performance in which he will recite Yiddish poetry and perform music by Jewish composers. For more information visit: carnegiehall.org/kissin. Mr. Kissin launches his Perspectives series, in addition to Carnegie Hall’s 125th anniversary season, at the Hall’s Opening Night Gala Concert on Wednesday, October 7, at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic. Also on the program is the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Vivo (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall for its 125 Commissions Project) and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 The following month, on Tuesday, November 3 at 8:00 p.m., Mr. Kissin returns for a solo recital that features Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 330; Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 23 in F. Minor, Op. 57, “Appassionata;” Three Intermezzos by Brahms, and works by Albéniz and Larregla. For the first time in his career, Mr. Kissin repeats the program at Carnegie Hall in a second performance later that week, on Friday, November 6 at 8:00 p.m. In December, Mr. Kissin performs two concerts at Carnegie Hall. On Thursday, December 3 at 8:00 p.m., he is joined by his renowned colleagues, violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Mischa Maisky, for a program of Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, D. 898 and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 50. Less than two weeks later, on Wednesday, December 16 at 8:00 p.m., Mr. Kissin performs little-known solo piano works by notable Jewish composers, including Bloch, Veprik, and Krein, in addition to reciting some of his favorite Yiddish poetry by Polish author and playwright Yitzhak-Leybush Peretz. This program celebrating Jewish culture earned a laudatory reception when it was first performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2014. When asked about this program that is particularly close to his heart, Mr. Kissin said, “I was not brought up speaking Yiddish, although I heard it quite a lot in my childhood. When I used to spend summers with my maternal grandparents in their country house, they spoke Yiddish a lot. And then when I grew older, I felt like really learning the language. Every language is a treasure. Every nation’s heritage is a treasure. Yiddish is a very rich and expressive language. Wonderful literature has been and is still being created in it. So yes, I do feel that this is something that should be kept alive.” Mr. Kissin added, “A number of years ago, I heard a recording of the Bloch Sonata, which is a wonderful piece. And last year I took part in the Pro Musica Hebraica concert series in Washington DC, organized by Charles Krauthammer and his wife, Robyn. The Krauthammers started sending me different scores of Jewish music, of which I chose the ones I thought were the best.” The following evening, on Thursday, December 17 at 7:00 p.m., Carnegie Hall Friends are invited to an exclusive evening of conversation with the pianist in Zankel Hall. Hosted by Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall, this is a private event and space is limited to Carnegie Hall members at the Associate level (annual donation of $300 or higher). For more information, visit carnegiehall.org/friends. Evgeny Kissin concludes his Perspectives series on Thursday, May 19 at 8:00 p.m., playing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with James Levine and The MET Orchestra, one of three concerts by the orchestra closing Carnegie Hall’s 2015-2016 season. Also on the program is Mikhail Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique.” About the Artist Mr. Kissin was born in Moscow in October 1971 and began to play by ear and improvise on the piano at the age of two. At six years old, he entered a special school for gifted children, the Moscow Gnessin School of Music, where he was a student of Anna Pavlovna Kantor, who has been his only teacher. At the age of ten, he made his concerto debut playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 466 and gave his first solo recital in Moscow one year later. Mr. Kissin came to international attention in March 1984 when, at the age of twelve, he performed Chopin’s Piano Concertos 1 and 2 in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory with the Moscow State Philharmonic under Dmitri Kitayenko. This concert was recorded live by Melodia, and a two-LP album was released the following year. Given the astounding success of this recording, Melodia proceeded to release five more LPs of live performances in Moscow over the following two years. Mr. Kissin’s first appearances outside Russia were in 1985 in Eastern Europe; his first tour of Japan in 1986; and in December 1988, when he performed with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in a New Year’s concert broadcast internationally. In 1990, Mr. Kissin made his first appearance at the BBC Promenade Concerts in London and, in the same year, made his North American debut, performing both Chopin piano concertos with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta. The following week he opened Carnegie Hall’s centennial season with a spectacular debut recital, recorded live by BMG Classics. In the US during the 2015–2016 season, in addition to his appearances at Carnegie Hall, Mr. Kissin performs with the Boston and Chicago Symphonies and gives recitals in Chicago, Dallas, and Washington DC. Mr. Kissin has received numerous musical awards and tributes from around the world. He received the Crystal Prize of the Osaka Symphony Hall for the Best Performance of the Year in 1986 (his first performance in Japan). In 1991, he received the Musician of the Year Prize from the Chigiana Academy of Music in Siena, Italy. He was special guest at the 1992 Grammy Awards Ceremony, broadcast live to an audience estimated at over one billion, and three years later became Musical America’s youngest Instrumentalist of the Year. In 1997, Mr. Kissin received the prestigious Triumph Award for his outstanding contribution to Russia’s culture, one of the highest cultural honors to be awarded in the Russian Republic, and the youngest ever awardee. He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Manhattan School of Music; the Shostakovich Award; an Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London; an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Hong Kong University; and, most recently, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva. Mr. Kissin’s recordings have also received numerous awards and accolades, having contributed significantly to the library of masterpieces recorded by the world’s greatest performers. Past awards have included the Edison Klassiek in The Netherlands, and the Diapason d’Or and the Grand Prix of La Nouvelle Academie du Disque in France. His recording of works by Scriabin, Medtner, and Stravinsky (RCA Red Seal) won him a Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Instrumental Soloist and, in 2002, he was named Echo Klassik Soloist of the Year. His most recent Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with orchestra) was awarded in 2010 for his recording of Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy (EMI Classics). Mr. Kissin’s extraordinary talent inspired Christopher Nupen’s documentary film, Evgeny Kissin: The Gift of Music, which was released in 2000 on video and DVD by RCA Red Seal. Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives Previous Perspectives artists have included Senegalese vocalist Youssou N’Dour; Brazilian singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso; Indian classical tabla player Zakir Hussain; experimental rocker David Byrne; and singer-songwriter James Taylor; as well as conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim; conductors Pierre Boulez, James Levine, Michael Tilson Thomas, and David Robertson; violinists Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Christian Tetzlaff; cellist Yo-Yo Ma; pianists Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Leif Ove Andsnes, Martha Argerich, Emanuel Ax, Maurizio Pollini, Andras Schiff, Peter Serkin, and Mitsuko Uchida; sopranos Renée Fleming and Dawn Upshaw; mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato; bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff; the Emerson String Quartet; the Kronos Quartet; and early music ensemble L’Arpeggiata. Other Perspectives artists in the 2015-2016 season are conductor Sir Simon Rattle and singer / songwriter Rosanne Cash. Program Information MAGNUS LINDBERG Vivo (World Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall) Opening Night Gala Lead Sponsor: PwC Major support for the 125 Commissions Project is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation. Tickets: $68–$220 Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 330 Sponsored by KPMG LLP Tickets: $65–$250 Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. FRANZ SCHUBERT Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, D. 898 Sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP Tickets: $65– $250 Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. ERNEST BLOCH Piano Sonata, Op. 40 Readings of poetry by Yitzhak Leybush Peretz Tickets: $65– $250 Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. Join us for an exclusive evening of conversation with pianist Evgeny Kissin during his season in residence as a Perspectives artist at Carnegie Hall. This members-only event will be hosted by Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall. This event is open exclusively to Carnegie Hall members at the Associate level ($300) or above. Space is limited, and reservations are required. Tickets become available October 27th at 11 a.m. To reserve your tickets please call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. MIKHAIL GLINKA Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila Tickets: $63–$205 Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
Photo of Evgeny Kissin by © Chris Lee |
