In March 1984, a fragile twelve-year-old boy went on stage of the Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatory to perform Chopin’s two concerts with the Moscow Philharmonic Society orchestra conducted by Dmitri Kitaenko. The name of Zhenya Kissin became instantly known both in the USSR and overseas. Everyone talked about a new child prodigy, about the birth of a piano miracle. From the very first performances of a quite young musician, one could not help but feel a rare combination of almost mutually exclusive qualities – freshness and fascination of youth and very mature, conscious proficiency in a complicated, by no means childish substance of the masterpieces he performed.
This combination has not been lost. On the contrary, it has been preserved through the years becoming a signature feature of Evgeny Kissin’s performance. Today, almost 30 years after, the recording of his first concert at the conservatory keeps that wonderful youthful fascination. It is still able to make you feel how it electrifies the audience watching a miracle happening before their eyes. That was the outstanding musician as the world first got to know him. That was Evgeny Kissin who won the recognition the worldwide music community and his colleagues.
