Evgeny Kissin in Lugano

Evgeny Kissin is a Russian classical pianist, born in 1971, known for his performances and recordings of Romantic-era music. His repertoire is particularly associated with works by Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and Rachmaninoff, alongside Beethoven’s sonatas and concertos. In 1984, aged 12, he performed both Chopin piano concertos in a single evening at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, accompanied by the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitri Kitaenko. Four years later, Herbert von Karajan conducted his performance of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto at the Berlin Philharmonic’s New Year concert. In 1990 he made his BBC Proms debut and later that year gave his first solo recital at Carnegie Hall. He has also given recitals at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Vienna’s Musikverein.