Evgeny Kissin: The Gift of Music Plus the Albert Hall Encores

Christopher Nupen, a filmmaker who specializes in biographical films about classical musicians, turns his focus on the titular Russian pianist, who has earned a reputation as one of the great modern virtuosos. A predictably laudatory portrait that sometimes verges on fawning, this documentary certainly succeeds in displaying Kissin's considerable talent and his disciplined, yet also agreeable, personality. Excerpts from interviews with Kissin, including amusing anecdotes about his earliest years as a prodigy and his extremely structured lifestyle, are accompanied by footage of him studying with his first and only teacher, Anna Kantor, as well as rehearsing, performing in chamber recitals at various festivals, and traveling on tour. All of this leads up to an extended treatment of Kissin's 1997 recital at the BBC Proms—the first solo performance in the celebrated series' history and the best-attended in over a hundred years, drawing an audience of nearly 6,000 to London's Royal Albert Hall. Although the program only offers snippets from the major works he performed there, it delivers all seven encores in full. The portrait that ultimately emerges here is of a young man possessed of incredible technical facility but still growing as an artist, one whose fans expect that he play the most demanding showpieces (sometimes in even more flamboyant arrangements than the originals) while he continues to move toward more serious fare. Presented in stereo, this is recommended. (F. Swietek)