Evgeny Kissin: Mussorgski - Pictures at an Exhibition

[@bumble1612]

On an unusually warm night here in Scotland, I'm in my garden, watching the bats feast in flight, just as darkness descends. Listening to this majestic performance via headphones, brings a wonderful end to this day. Goodnight to all.

[@ananis]

bats are definitevly antifascists / so kill the batman

[@davidrockefeller2007]

Magical!

[@poopsiedoo5049]

Did you enjoy your bat soup?

[@carnivaltym]

You have bats in Scotland? Here in Sydney, we see flocks (?) of bats cloud the sky at dusk, 100's of thousands of them maybe! What's the go in Scotland?

[@RodM.Peters]

Love how each Promenade has a totally different mood, as if the gallery visitor is indeed emotionally affected by each of the pictures. Sheer genius.

One of the reasons I return to hear this this piece often

[@BrianJohnstonTrombone]

Mussorgsky, master composer. Ravel, master orchestrater. Together, WOW.

[@kapellmeister51]

That’s the first thing I noticed. It’s the first performance on piano I’ve heard that’s equal to or better than the usual orchestrated performance.

[@gilbertostefan]

You really got the idea 🙂

[@leecmh]

Great observation. I never really explicitly noticed it, but so true.

[@Philippositivity]

Note, no coughing or ordinance interruption. ❤ perfect.

[@spikespa5208]

Always good to not have ordinance going off during the piece.😊

[@jkryptos]

😂😂​@@spikespa5208

[@guillemclara]

0:35 Promenade l 1:47 The Gnom 4:12 Promenade ll 5:08 The Old Castle 10:15 Promenade lll 10:41 The Tuileries: Children's dispute after play 11:40 Bydlo 14:40 Promenade lV 15:17 Ballet of the unhatched chicks 16:27 Two Polish Jews: Rich and poor 18:39 Promenade V 19:48 The market at Limoges 21:03 Roman Catacombs - With the dead in a dead language 25:37 Baba Yaga: The Witch 28:56 The Heroes Gate at Kiev

[@hunter.ru1745]

Senk you

[@DarkPablo]

Thank you very much.

[@coltinanderson7423]

Thank you

[@luiswe4598]

Sankiu

[@palmaiattila3288]

Arigató gozaimashita!

[@robertlee3756]

I have been listening to this piece for over 50 years i think he is the best

[@nanomonkey3143]

The last several minutes is the most regal, stately, majestic thing I have ever heard to come from one person at a piano. . . and I'm old.

[@billbelchee1441]

My thoughts clearly and succintly stated. And I'm older, lol!

[@foofpilled]

This is easily up there as one of the best solo piano compositions ever written for its expressiveness and the creativity of the whole concept.

[@johnsmith-wk2tb]

It's hard to even wrap my mind around the towering greatness of all involved

[@Monkeyboy2457]

It is so original and creative. The rawness and emotional power is breathtaking.

[@jr499]

The Planets piano version by Holst is also exquisite.

[@beechrad1965]

Took me a while to understand why EK’s playing is so unique and so beautiful...He plays like a child...Hard to explain but there is an innocence in his technique...a sense of wonder that shows through. Sublime.

[@cromorno8749]

When he play he's probably marvelled by his own performance.

[@veronekovideos7148]

Amazingly beautiful

[@fairly75]

yes so, he is not good, to try to lesson her kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6GqiaNvrKxoppo Yudina, or Pletnev, he the best too.

[@valdemar9960]

@@fairly75 Dont understand what u was trying to say, but i think u mean that Kissin is a bad teacher? And that is very possible. Being good yourself doesnt mean that you can teach

[@normhall1622]

Kissin inspires me. His playing not only captures the music at hand but he is coming from a higher source.

[@machiwoomiapoo]

I'm here because I love playing this tune and many other Russian composer tunes. What an amazing performance by Evgeny Kissin! Long live Mussorgsky's music!

[@schocoserizawa7912]

this thing got me so emotional i cried for 30 mins straight

[@Ella-Bella945]

sorry :(

[@palmaiattila3288]

The best musical interpretation and artist performance ever. The cameraman's performance is also top quality.

[@tobiolopainto]

I can't agree about the cameraman's "performance." It's bothersome, cut-aways synced with various bits of music. At one point when the camera has been focused on Kissin's left ear for a while, Kissin glares at the camera for a few seconds, as if to say, "Grow up!" When the Catacombs starts, the camera pulls all the way out into the auditorium as if to make a comparison between catacombs (claustrophobic) and the spaciousness of a large auditorium (lots of room...?) This is pretty stupid camera-work. Kissin's performance is good, but not as rhythmically incisive as Richter's famous performances of this piece. Less camera-moves, more pianist shots without all that in and out.

[@skzion2]

@@tobiolopainto In fairness to Kissin, Richter's most sublime live performance (Sofia) begins with huge numbers of mistakes for no good reason. Kissin would never be so slipshod.

[@tobiolopainto]

@@skzion2 So? Horowitz's comeback Performance at Carnegie Hall began with some mistakes for no good reason, and so what? This is supposed to mean something when all the rest of the notes were beyond perfection? Richter's too. Beyond perfection. I like Kissin, but not beyond perfection. He's a little too timid when compared to the older generation of pianists. Kissin is one of the best pianists around. And he has some real stiff competition. This is a "nice" Pictures, as if he had to maintain his manners in a public gallery. Richter played this piece without manners. And by all accounts, Mussorgski was without manners.

[@keithmatthews1673]

@@skzion2 It was 1958 on a cold night behind the iron curtain - poor old Richter was probably freezing - but he certainly warmed up!

[@pianoman8642]

I'd have preferred more focus on the hands

[@LucasPianoSalon]

This is what the Internet is for.

[@JBrandeis1]

Here is the cloud-wrapped genius of Moussorgsky brought fully and completely to light by the hands of this young wizard.

[@guillermobadell6]

Beautiful and accurate comment.. I totally agree...

[@andrewjmesser]

@@ktiemz the talent *is* the genius. Who cares what wrapper it's in?

[@ktiemz]

@@andrewjmesser the 'genius' was Rimsky-Korsakov...

[@MartyMusic777]

@@ktiemz Rimsky-Korsakov was a very gifted composer, but he never wrote a piece this varied and stylistically challenging. Of the Five, he definitely had the best sense of orchestration, however Tchaikovsky's opinion that Mussorgsky was perhaps the most gifted among them seems to hold some merit seeing how few pieces Mussorgsky completed and how often they are still played, versus a majority of the music written by Rimsky.

[@ZWheels_]

Only came here to see the first promenade. 34 minutes later here I am

[@slightlygrumpy]

same

[@aaronsilva9062]

Mussorgsky has had that effect on me, also. ☺

[@ruperttmls7985]

Me too LOL

[@maximaxi6825]

jajjajajajaaa mee too

[@Jimmy.Williams]

LOL...every time with this piece!!!!😀

[@merlin5476]

I must thank Keith Greg & Carl for getting me into this master piece.

[@qizhou7515]

For molbile users: 0:36- Promenade I 1:47- The Gnome 4:12 - Promenade ll 5:08- The Old Castle 10:15- Promenade lll 10:41- The Tuileries: Children's dispute after play 11:39 - Bydlo 14:40- Promenade lV 15:17- Ballet of the unhatched chicks 16:27- The two Polish Jews: Rich and poor 18:39- Promenade V 19:49 - The market at Limoges 21:03- Roman Catacombs - With the dead in a dead language 25:37- Baba Yaga: The Witch 28:56 - The Heroes Gate at Kiev Thank you!

[@adamek82]

Have you noticed how wonderfully The Old Castle was played? Eternal interpretation. As he discovered a piece of the mystery of the universe in that 5 minutes... Absolutely amazing.

[@palmaiattila3288]

I got exactly the same impressions.

[@benjaminsawyer1292]

Evgeny is so good! This guy is a master.

[@stephanegenilloud1139]

Only today did I learn that this was written by Mussorgski for piano. I had always known the orchestral piece (and the ELP rendition). This original piano version makes so much more sense.

[@rmc3669]

The Pletnev performance is even better imho.

[@tomallman3956]

The elp version was my initial exposure to Mussorgsky as well. Rock and roll gradually made me appreciate classical music. I like the piano version much more than the orchestral versions.

[@costafinkel]

​@@tomallman3956 Its incredible how much people got exposed to classical music beyond Beethoven's "5th Symphony" and Vivaldi's "4 seasons" by listening to ELP. Not that Pictures at an Exhibition is obscure or anything, but still..

[@johnbader3722]

Always enjoyed Calvin Hampton's pipe organ transcription of many years ago. Recently discovered Jonathan Scott's more recent organ performance on You Tube. Definitely worth a listen.

[@ccreib]

La version pour piano ainsi que la version orchestrée par Ravel sont toutes les deux formidables.

[@marquisberrey3085]

Everyone who has tried to play this knows how challenging it is, yet Kissin makes it flow so beautifully and expressively. A master class of performance.

[@jeremyjoe714]

Anyone that's played the orchestrated version already knows how difficult of a piece this truly is, it's even more difficult on Piano. Kissin played this FLAWLESSLY.

[@toralvdirro760]

Simply the best interpretation and performance (i have ever heard) of the best piece of music ever written.

[@PhantomX141291]

Promenade I has to be one of the catchiest melodies I've ever heard.

[@ArpitsPianoHits]

PhantomPianist91 yup

[@raphaelneves7666]

Just true

[@WatercraftGames]

It's beautiful

[@terbigail]

agree

[@raffitorossian6994]

MR KISSIN IS A GIANT, SUPER VIRTUOSO ARTIST, FULL OF FEELING AND TCHNIC.....I WISH HIM HEALTH AND MUCH MORE SUCCESS....!

[@relatosymemorias9516]

Love this pianist. He always reveals a freshness that is new .

[@lindaeknoian2290]

This is one of the best performances I have seen. Evgeny Kissin plays with so much power, physicality, color, texture, and passion! I have watched this video many times and never get tired of his performance! He is an actor on keys 🎹! Thank you for posting!💜🎹💜🎹

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

Great comment Linda, you are spot on.

[@Lindae696969]

@@DavidA-ps1qr Thank you! 🎶🎹

[@keiji4665]

What a short 34 minutes ! Never get tired of it for a moment.

[@dbn52]

Genius, just outright GENIUS!!!!!

[@suttonmercer4466]

1:07 those chords give me chills. love this piece so much.

[@mr.k7201]

Unbelievable - he´s playing the whole work by heart. Really awesome!!!!

[@anishraja9655]

I will say though that you sort of have to at a performance seeing as how the full thing is 35 minutes long and like a 100 pages.

[@davidsa440]

As stunning as this live performance is, the quality of the sound recording in capturing the response from the piano is absolutely astounding, better than any studio recording I've ever heard.

[@GTXTi-db5xu]

Exactly, it's unbelievable especially considering that this was performed outdoors.

[@DonaldSosinJoannaSeaton]

And that's with the compressed sound KZbin give us. Imagine what it really sounds like!

[@quaver1239]

WOW. Stunning. Kissin always amazes me, even though we think we know what to expect of him. Thank you for 34 wonderful minutes.

[@Ivan-co6rb]

When Mr. Kissin first gained recognition, I was doubtful that he would last because his playing looked labored and musically he was one dimensional but I could not have been more wrong as I watched and heard him go from the talented pianist without much distinction to one of the finest pianist today musically, technically, interpretion, commitment. His performance of this work shows that an orchestra isn't required to create a broad range of color - a pianist of this caliber can color so beautifully and beautifully nuanced as Mr. Kissin demonstrates. Modeste Mussorgsky's inspired composition in the hands of a Master of the Piano. Hats off to both. I do love Ravel's Orchestration as it illuminates the work, is edifying and anyone playing this work at the Piano should know Ravel's orchestration then go to the piano and forget everything except the notes and musical directions of Mussorgsky.

[@Ultrazone91]

If you know the score, you can easily see how outstanding is to play the finale of the great gate at that speed and accuracy! Wonderful performance

[@timward276]

yeah, I've performed it, and I didn't go *nearly* that fast. I think that's the intended tempo, as it's marked Allegro. Those leaping triplets at the end are scary - both hands have to jump all over the keyboard and everyone will notice if you miss.

[@orlandocfi]

I think a slightly slower tempo and a touch of rubato amplifies the majesty of “great gate.”

[@pocoapoco2]

Actually I found his finnish to the Marketplace portrait to be the most astonishing.

[@ukdavepianoman]

Complete agree. Those chordal jumps are hair-raising. And EK plays them with such power too. Really astonishing technique.

[@anthonyderitis2507]

I saw Kissin play opening night at the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2009 -- amazing. And this performance? Out of this world !!

[@andrewnix6480]

Possibly the 500th time I've listened to this Great Gate rendition. Best in history

[@Hermonethic]

so right

[@adrianaperelli2225]

Andrew Nix 3bellissimo e anc

[@anavieira4063]

👍

[@acyutanandadas1326]

After Horowitz's performance of this a reviewer said "It's a wonder the piano is still standing on its legs'

[@Lindae696969]

Andrew Nix Me too! I never get tired of Mussorgski’s Pictures of Exhibition and having Kissen performing this piece is icing on the cake! 🎹🎶

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

Splendid interpretation, with massive concentration on tempi and dynamics. A joy from start to finish.

[@Modeltnick]

This performance leaves me speechless! Hats off, a genius!

[@hpu8137]

Amazing performance, amazing recording and amazing audience! Plus, amazing piano!

[@郭峻楷-i6f]

0:35漫步I 1:47地精 4:12漫步II 5:08老城堡 10:15漫步III 10:41杜樂麗：玩耍後的兒童糾紛 11:40牛車 14:40漫步IV 15:17未孵化小雞的芭蕾舞 16:27兩名波蘭猶太人：貧富 18:39漫步V 19:48利摩日市場 21:03羅馬地下墓穴-用死語表達死者 25:37 Baba Yaga：女巫 28:56在基輔的英雄之門

[@WatercraftGames]

ok

[@MrGoshka1]

​@@WatercraftGamesob.

[@thethikboy]

Quite an exhibition of brilliant power and genius worthy of Mussorgsky

[@marcychristoff219]

That might be the best version of this piece I've ever heard. Outstanding!!👏

[@knd1940]

A spectacular performance, full of color and excitement. I've never heard it played on the piano with so much inventiveness before.

[@josephslotnick4516]

What a magnificent piece of music by mussorgsky!

[@classicpiano7]

What a spectacular performance...brought me to tears!

[@palmaiattila3288]

The whole piece performed by Kissin is unique in its interpretation and preciseness. In my life I had never heard such a beautiful lute plucking as he was playing "Il vecchio castello".

[@thethikboy]

What is phenomenal about this piece is its coloristic range - on a piano - the original instrument for which it was composed. Of course Kissin reincarnates Mussorgsky in complete power.

[@aescobaa3]

He.is completed drunk as the composer but he dont need any rehab..🤓unbelievable..!

[@denniskinnane8337]

Just perfect... so moving and the audience and I were mesmerized! The piano version is actually more impressive than the orchestral version! Thank you Evgeny and thank you Mr Moussorgski!

[@vangeliskritikos8326]

I admire this energy and performance skill.

[@nadastojanovic9585]

A stunning performance. This is my favourite!!!

[@accountnotinuse1535]

Obvious coincidence but who else noticed that Kiev (great gates of Kiev) consists of ki and ev as in Kissin and Evgeny.

[@Jack-ji2kz]

This is incredibly random. But great 😂

[@Thekymism]

H buy

[@Lindae696969]

Very good! That is a coincidence! 🎶🎼🎹

[@classicalmusicat432hz]

Also piano keys are black and white, and Kissin is dressed in black an white 😱 MIND BLOWING!!!

[@TJMusic2021]

😅😅 hahaha

[@robinblankenship9234]

Nothing more authentic than hearing a Russian playing Russian music. Fantastic.

[@robinblankenship9234]

They play with authentic and unapologetic love of their native culture. That is increasingly rare these days, especially in the West, which is now running away from itself as fast as it can.

[@TerryUniGeezerPeterson]

Music is music.

[@shin-i-chikozima]

Comfort and gracefulness of Kissin’s performance are immeasurable profound and off the charts

[@Emmoth666]

I must say I deeply admire this piece of work, it shakes my own personal foundations to the inner core. I have many times returned to this clip and enjoyed myself, I think I always will.

[@DDReed-y1i]

What a beautiful tribute to M's friend. Just mesmerizing music, playing and video.

[@handsfree1000]

The best piano in the world. The best pianist in the world. The best music in the world. I can cope with that!

[@normhall1622]

If it gets any better than that, I haven't heard it. Bravo to a great pianist!

[@jeandemontebello3223]

It doesn't get better than that

[@66renny66]

Magnificient!

[@beverleyweir4508]

This is absolutely brilliant. Yevgeny is such a wonderful pianist and interprets this piece so well. I love the piano version.

[@StrideLatinProgRick]

Interpretazione sublime e strepitosa. La più grande che io conosca.

[@scivalesmusicbooks1977]

Straordinario. This is by far the best interpretation of this masterwork I have ever heard. Congratulations!

[@BsBigSpinToTheShin]

Wow just amazing, first time I have watched something like this. Absolutely enjoyed it, I have no words just love this. I only just discovered Mussorgsky today, will 1000000% be listening to this again.

[@shin-i-chikozima]

Kissin is an Alchemist of the piano He weaves emotion andtribute from his piano playing

[@shin-i-chikozima]

This masterpiece sublimates the regret and sorrow and a friend's memories of Mussorgsky , who died in poverty at the young age of 42 From Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun 🇯🇵

[@josephslotnick4516]

Best of both realms/worlds--gothic deep emotion and great technical skill contained in both this piece and this amazingly beautiful ethereal performance.

[@m0ment219]

Best performance in my book. Been scrolling KZbin the past hours to try and find better performances, but couldn't. Incredible.

[@lasseadamofsky5531]

So ein geilese Produkt

[@bahorala]

Joa schon

[@georgiegirl0621]

0:36 to 33:14 my favorite part.

[@rothenbeauregard6430]

I liked 00:01 - 00:35 more :D

[@mambooooooo917]

@@rothenbeauregard6430 ??

[@csbNine]

Right? 👍

[@ysz7149]

p. kay ward in fact I’d prefer to listen the part from 0:36 to 1:47 over and over again.

[@dusa5918]

Based on Russian liturgic music... very beautiful...

[@josephslotnick4516]

Excellent technique notwithstanding,he plays this piece with passion an understanding of the emotions that M. Intended.

[@gusguslvr]

my favorite performance of this beautiful piece!!! evgeny kissin my goat fr🐐

[@kimtay5548]

The best "Pictures" performance, truly remarkable.

[@josianecruveiller9551]

Kim Tay A very good one, yes... But... are you so sure it's the best one? Listen to that !!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6bGeWehhcZ7hs0

[@zehrasumerkan3990]

a very beautiful interpretation. I like Evgeny Kissin :)

[@kjeldadamofsky9196]

yes very nice

[@angelsamuellopez966]

Ah, those last moments in his interpretation... It truly never gets old

[@kanekokazuko7034]

神の手✌️✌️凄すぎる‼️やっぱりキーシン大好きです。有り難うございます。

[@ukdavepianoman]

This is truly an extraordinary performance. Full of passion couple with phenomenal technique. The tempo and volume Kissin takes through the final bars of the Gates of Kiev while maintaining total accuracy is staggering (I know as I've played this).

[@喜美子中川]

なんと言う素晴らしさ❗

[@Flightofphenomena]

I thought I couldn’t love this more. He had me in tears at the end! Oh. My. Fuck. What a banger.

[@vijayraghavan6383]

This is beyond belief!

[@ivangloriamachadoprofissio6918]

Kissin seems like a Angel when he play

[@MarioRodriguez-mb4wz]

The composer, the painter, the interpreter, the camera man, all wonderfull artista.

[@jorgeaguirre7260]

5:10 The old castle. No words

[@VassilikiKravari]

A masterpiece. What about the drama in Bydlo?

[@raffaeletestolin3647]

a great pianist and a superb performance. Many tanks for this record on you tube.

[@Jeremyboehm]

I've listened to this since I was little and forty five. It still gets stuck in my head but I don't mind it like when Taylor Swift or electronica gets stuck there. This guy does a marvelous job of hammering the keys in the most beautiful and emotional and rhythmically complex arrangements in classical (I'm a drummer not a piano player but I'm in awe of the rhythm and counter rhythms) ... So passionate. I also learned from these comments that this started on piano. I always liked it better on piano and just listened to the Oslo Philharmonic... They are passionate and the cinematography is great but This guy... This one guy tops it... Now I understand why... It was written this way for piano first!

[@Lola-yz4df]

Very good👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 I love Horowitz interpretation especially Hero Gate in Kiev- he was originally from Kiev himself and managed to bring that wonderful sound of Pechorskaya Lavra bells- exactly the same sound. Amazing!

[@oinarizm]

31:30 What a wonderful performance. It brings back beautiful memories of an old, long-lost friend.

[@tomallman3956]

Modest Mussorgsky is my favorite composer. I'm sure you know the story behind this. It's as though you are channeling Mussorgsky. Powerful performance!!!

[@billd3356]

The first version of Boris I ever heard was a recording of the original, not the revised score by Rimsky-Korsakoff and I loved it. I like SOME of what the latter composer did and I had an argument with one of my music professors about the original. He said "I like timbre". Well, to me, the original does sound raw and uncivilized-look at how Russia was at that time compared to the West, it was just the same. I love every note of the original , even in Mussorgsky himself wanted to revise it. It ends at is should, with the slow singing of the "fool" and not the death of Boris.

[@unoriginal422]

For me, I like all Russian composers

[@shin-i-chikozima]

He holds an unchallend position as an interpreter of Mussorgsky, and he is a great Alchemist of the piano embodying the musical aesthetics and soul of Mussorgsky

[@johnsmith-wk2tb]

Hearing Ravel's orchestrated version many times, but only the original composition long ago. Hearing this now, I'm just completely immersed in this incredible experience. Such amazing genius in the music and this performance.

[@TheGuggo]

Technique and expression at its best. Amazing.

[@simmo303]

. . . and a magnificent piano.

[@TheGuggo]

Indeed... I am so lucky to have one of these magnificent instruments. There is someone that has commented that the sound is °thin°. Maybe that person needs to upgrade the audio equipment or is just one of those inexplicable 56 minds (at the moment of writing this) that gave a “thumbs down” to this performance or to the instrument.

[@judyrubinnot8793]

Absolutely the best in history.

[@csabanekatalinelteto]

PAZAR előadás, nagy élmény volt!

[@conchacarbajocascon4948]

Gracias!!!❤

[@yorammash6315]

Amazing performance 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@continentalgin]

Very expressive and magnetic. Bravo Kissin.

[@jackal59]

My piano teacher used to complain that this is a completely "unpianistic" piece of music. I think she just couldn't play it (but then again, neither can I).

[@BigPoppaCreech]

Wasn’t it originally written for piano and later arranged for orchestra?

[@feuersalamander8331]

@@BigPoppaCreech That's right.

[@xekind]

With all due disrespect, your piano teacher is a moron who probably thinks twinkle twinkle little star is the epitome of piano music.

[@Lalulalala824]

It is in many ways unpianistic)

[@TomD67]

@@feuersalamander8331 That's true, but it was not arranged by the composer. He wrote it only for piano. Many others since have orchestrated it, Ravel's version being the best known.

[@Dominosteine42]

To me, he's the best pianist on earth in his generation. He's technically flawless - I never heard even a single wrong note. And, he's able to make beautiful music even from the most difficult pieces: they just sound like he wants them to sound. That doesn't mean that I adore every of his interpretations. For example, the "great gate of kiev" I find a tiny, tiny bit too fast. Could be a tiny bit more relaxed and enjoyable. Also, I don't know many pieces from the vienna classics period played by him, I more focussed on his interpretations of romantic and post-romantic music.

[@Dominosteine42]

Example: Scriabin Etude Op.8 No.12 (but, not to forget the wonderful Vladimir Horovitz with his phenomenal left-hand phrasing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXTPdXmje9KlZs0)

[@irellalorenz]

Awesome. Just talent.

[@zodiace1]

I hadn't liked this pianist before hearing him do this piece. Very good!

[@fabriziosavoca5848]

Magnifico

[@bluerev]

Masterpiece!