Track Listing

1. "Ballade No. 1, Op. 23"
2. "Ballade No. 2, Op. 38"
3. "Ballade No. 3, Op. 47"
4. "Ballade No. 4, Op. 52"
5. "Berceuse, Op. 57"
6. "Barcarolle, Op. 60"
7. "Scherzo No. 4, Op. 54"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74575 in Music
• Released on: 1999-06-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

From Amazon.co.uk
The Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin here plays Chopin's profounder. and less well-known works for piano: the four Ballades; the. Scherzo No. 4; the Berceuse; and the Barcarolle.. Kissin has a brittle, exciting touch which is never afraid to be robust. but is soft and shimmering at its most beautiful. The Ballades are Chopin's autobiography. They are substantial works each containing a pair of his most beautiful and naturally flowing themes, sometimes announced with outrageous grade two simplicity, at others times wrapped up in the most contorted swathes of passionate piano writing that one could give one's whole life to practising and still never master Nothing is more restful than the Berceuse, which rocks like a sophisticated nursery rhyme for five pages over an unchanging bass The Barcarolle laps at the keyboard like the Rialto at Venice Under Kissin's fingers, one of the loveliest musical depictions of water in the literature has a silver, steel-edged glint. The Scherzo is not often performed because it is so difficult, but Kissin plays its supersonic chord changes with supreme control. What others only plod at is for him light hearted and almost throwaway. --Rick Jones

Amazon.com essential recording
Ever since the start of his career as a sensational child prodigy, Kissin has displayed a strong affinity for the music of Chopin, in concert and on numerous records. Here he performs a program of substantial pieces: the four ballades, written several years apart and not conceived as a group, which nevertheless complement one another through their contrasts as well as their shared narrative and descriptive atmosphere; the lovely, peaceful berceuse; the swaying, rocking barcarolle; and the brilliant, witty Scherzo No. 4. Throughout, Kissin's effortless virtuosity, his beautiful, singing tone, his command of voicing, dynamics, touch, color, and legato are phenomenal; cascades of notes flow from under his fingers with the speed and glittering lightness of dancing waters; his build-ups achieve orchestral sonorities. Musically, he seems to have lost some of his irresistible earlier spontaneity; the dramatic nature of the ballades encourages exaggeration, and the liberties sound a bit planned. However, the berceuse is a simple, expressive lullaby; the barcarolle surges to a grand climax; the scherzo sparkles with humor--its middle part projects a plaintive, ardent yearning. --Edith Eisler