Evgeny Kissin plays Liszt

One of the greatest pianists of his day, Franz Liszt is among the lucky composers to have experienced unbridled international success during his lifetime. Evgeny Kissin celebrates the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth with a recital dedicated entirely to his works.

Franz Liszt—the “Paganini of the piano”—was without doubt the author of some of the most difficult pages of piano music of his generation. Co-inventor of the modern piano, along with Chopin he elevated the instrument’s status to that of “king of instruments.”

A genius by reputation, Evgeny Kissin belongs to the rare breed of musicians adored as much by the public as by their peers. This jewel of a recital shows the pianist at the 2011 Verbier Festival, and honored Liszt through performances of his Sonata in B, the Funérailles, and Les Années de pèlerinage.

Photo: © Aline Paley