Evgeny Kissin in an interview

"Life brings its own surprises."

Evgeny Kissin is one of the most outstanding pianists of our time. Born in Moscow in 1971, he began playing and improvising by ear at the age of two. At six, he was admitted to the Gnessin Music School in Moscow, where he studied with Anna Pavlovna Kantor, who remained his only teacher. He made his debut as a soloist with an orchestra at the age of ten, earning him the reputation of a child prodigy. At the 1988 New Year's Concert of the Berlin Philharmonic, Kissin performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor under the baton of Herbert von Karajan, achieving his international breakthrough.

You started playing the piano very early. What do you still remember about that time?
Before I had my first piano lesson, I had listened to music constantly since birth. I was already very familiar with a wide variety of musical styles and pieces by the time I was finally big enough to touch the keyboard. I began to play these melodies and pieces by ear. The first piece I sang was a Bach fugue; I was 11 months old at the time. My older sister was practicing the Prelude and Fugue in A major from Book Two of the Well-Tempered Clavier.

You studied with the same teacher, Anna Pavlovna Kantor, your entire life. Can you tell us something about your relationship with her and what you valued most about her?
She is a person of true and amazing integrity. She dedicated her entire life to teaching piano. One evening, when we were organizing her 85th birthday dinner, a friend asked her if she could say how she taught me as a child. Mrs. Kantor said that, in fact, my own personality, my predispositions, my specific qualities were the only aspects that, over time, showed how best to teach me.

How would you describe your personal relationship with the piano?
From my earliest childhood, I had a natural urge to play the piano. I loved playing the piano for my own pleasure and not practicing for lessons.

What interests you outside of music?
Poetry, reading short stories, and games.

You have learned Yiddish. At the Verbier Festival in 2002, you recited in Yiddish in public for the first time. What do this language and your Jewish roots mean to you?
I didn't learn Yiddish as a child, although I heard it quite often. When I spent the summers with my maternal parents at their country house, they often spoke Yiddish. As I grew older, I wanted to learn the language properly.
A few years ago, I heard a recording of Bloch's sonata, a wonderful piece. And three years ago, I played in the Pro Musica Hebraica concert series in Washington, D.C., organized by Charles Krauthammer and his wife, Robyn. The Krauthammers started sending me various scores of Jewish music. I then chose the pieces I felt were most suitable. Every language is a treasure. Every nation's heritage is a treasure. Yiddish is a very rich and expressive language. Wonderful literature has been and continues to be written in it. I feel that this is something that should be kept alive.

You will also be playing at the Verbier Festival . The program includes Beethoven and Rachmaninoff. What is your relationship to these composers?
I have a complicated relationship with Beethoven's music, although I've always believed I have a special affinity for it. But in this case, my love for his music has never transformed into an adequate ability to express it. I always play Rachmaninoff as if it were my first time.

Where do you see the challenges in your life, what are your future plans?
I often say: Life brings its own surprises. For example, just a few years ago I would never have believed that I would write prose in Yiddish and that it would even be published. Well, and now that's exactly what's happening.

Interview by Florian Schär | Classicpoint.net | June 1, 2017
© Photo: Sheila Rock