Evgeny Kissin / Emerson String Quartet THE NEW YORK CONCERT

Grammy-winning musicians Evgeny Kissin and the Emerson String Quartet join forces for their debut collaborative album, captured live at a sold out Carnegie Hall concert, to be released on Deutsche Grammophon this Friday, April 12.

Capturing a rare performance of one of the world’s most acclaimed pianists as a chamber musician, this live album is a new gem in DG’s vast catalogue.

The rehearsal and preparation process for the recording created space for a true meeting of minds, allowing Kissin and the Emersons to preserve their individual characteristics while revealing qualities unique to their collaboration. Ideas tested in the rehearsal room were subsequently forged in the heat of performance, unleashing elemental shifts between Classical heroism and Romantic introspection, and drawing out points of dramatic tension and release. Everything flowed, nothing became fixed as Kissin and the Emersons moved from one concert to the next. Last year’s performances “were the highlights of [their] season,” notes ESQ’s Eugene Drucker.

All of the musicians worked enthusiastically together to achieve a synthesis of views, from which emerged their dynamic interpretations of Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor K 478, Fauré’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor op. 15 and Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major op. 81. Their choice of repertoire also comprised two encore pieces, including the Scherzo from Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor op. 57.

The close mutual understanding established between the “ideally matched” (New York Times) pianist and quartet was apparent to all who witnessed it. Reviewing the Carnegie Hall concert, Bachtrack underlined the “palpable sense of communion.”

VERBIER FESTIVAL 25 Years of Excellence

This limited 4-CD edition of previously unreleased live recordings from the Verbier Festival celebrates the festival’s 25th anniversary.
Featuring admired DG artists as Martha Argerich, Yevgeny Kissin, Mikhail Pletnev, Bryn Terfel, Daniil Trifonov, Yuja Wang and conductors Valery Gergiev, Gustavo Dudamel, Kent Nagano and Kurt Masur in performances of both core classics and lesser-known works from the orchestral, concert, chamber and operatic repertoires.
Since 1994 the Verbier Festival has transformed a small Swiss Alpine resort into a unique hothouse for musicians to explore new repertoire and new partnerships, always with revelatory results. Founder Martin T:son Engström’s ambitious idea to create a summer festival in the Swiss Alps with a resident youth orchestra and an academy has for 25 years encouraged musical excellence and created a platform for young musicians to learn from the world’s finest artists, as well as offering audiences a dynamic, music-centered experience. A quarter century after the first festival, Verbier’s magic continues unabated and surely will do for years to come.

“I’ve been coming to Verbier since I was 21 and it was there that all these fantastic musicians who lived in my head became real. Verbier is so magical for me – it always feels like coming home, or a fun vacation with my closest friends.” Yuja Wang

Evgeny Kissin BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas No. 3 - No. 14 "Moonlight" - No. 23 "Appassionata" - No. 26 "Les Adieux" - No. 32 - 32 Variations in C minor

“It has been clear for some time that Evgeny Kissin is a Beethoven player of rare pedigree and distinction, the finest Russian-born Beethovenian since Emil Gilels,” Gramophone

Any history of the great pianists would be incomplete without a chapter devoted to Evgeny Kissin. The 45-year-old artist is blessed with the rare qualities required to enter the pantheon of piano legends. A recent recital at London’s Barbican Centre inspired the Telegraph to describe his playing as “miraculous”, while the New York Times wrote of the pianist’s “blend of technical mastery and eloquent artistry” following a spellbinding performance at Carnegie Hall.

After a break of twenty-five years, the pianist has signed a new exclusive contract with the yellow label. Kissin’s discography already contains landmark recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, critically acclaimed collaborations with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan and Claudio Abbado among them, and the association between artist and label resumes with the release of a Beethoven album in August. The double-disc set, its programme personally chosen by Kissin from recitals given over the past decade, includes Piano Sonatas No. 14 Op. 27 No. 2, “Moonlight”, No. 23 Op. 57, “Appassionata”, and No. 26 Op. 81a, “Les Adieux”. It also comprises the evergreen 32 Variations in C minor WoO 80 and a profound exploration of the sublime two-movement Piano Sonata No. 32 Op. 111, the composer’s final work in the genre. The album, Kissin’s first solo recital recording in more than a decade, represents a major addition to his Beethoven discography and an essential document of his artistic development.

“These recordings were made in the moment of performance,” observes the pianist. “Live recordings always surpass studio albums for me, because I feel more inspired when playing for an audience. It means a lot to me to be able to share the spirit of that live experience with others.” (Deutsche Grammophon)