"The Early Recordings": Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 12 and 20, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, Schubert's "Trout Quintet," and works by Schumann, Rachmaninov, Chopin, Scriabin, Liszt and Brahms (Brilliant Classics)
"In Concert": Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1, Chopin's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 and works by Liszt and Schumann (Brilliant Classics)
These sets are part of Brilliant's Historic Russian Archives series. Although it's odd to think of the Kissin, 36, as being part of that, one has to remember that some of these recordings date back to 1983 and were good enough to bring him to international attention, but have been available only intermittently in the United States. Both sets offer good sound at budget prices.
The first volume, the five-disc "The Early Recordings," is the most collectible because it contains some of Kissin's least-circulated concerto recordings. Although the performances are well-played and judiciously interpreted, they do make you wonder if his child-prodigy years were overrated.
The "In Concert" four-disc set gives the opposite impression, lending credence to piano pundits who claim Kissin was never greater than in those early years. The Tchaikovsky concerto, heard in a 1987 collaboration with Valery Gergiev, is brimming with all the insights and emotional presence lacking in the pianist's slower 1988 performance with the contemplative Herbert von Karajan. Clearly, Kissin plays out in these concert recordings in ways he didn't in the studio. The sheer strength of his always-substantial sonority is astounding. More important is what the sonority expresses -- passion, temperament and a rare, exhilarating lack of caution.
DAVID PATRICK STEARNS, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
