Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos 1 - 5

"Kissin impressed throughout with his marvellous rich, almost chocolate-like tone. His articulation too was impeccable... The orchestra and Sir Colin were on truly wondrous form, and Kissin's pianism proved ... a marvel in its dynamism and delicacy." MusicWeb International (on Kissin's 2008 performance of Piano Concerto No. 3 at the Barbican, UK)

"The technically brilliant Russian is often criticised for his dourly clinical playing, but his Barbican Beethoven series…displayed a playful, warmer performer, more ready to unbutton, as in the finale of the First, or in the friskiness of the Fifth" Stephen Pritchard, The Observer, 7th September 2008

Recording the Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle is a momentous experience for any pianist. For generations the concertos have been the touchstone of an artist's maturity for their stylistic bridge from the classicism of Haydn and Mozart to the first flowering of Romanticism. Although Evgeny Kissin has performed these works numerous times over the years - and even recorded some of them previously - he waited until now to find the best possible musical environment in which to make this very personal statement.

Recording Producer Jay Saks, who has worked closely with Kissin since his 1990 Carnegie Hall's debut, said of the project: "Recording the five Beethovens with Genya [Kissin] and Sir Colin was just wonderful. [It was] such beautiful playing, so musical and entirely in the character of Beethoven. It's not strange, not quirky, it's just astonishingly beautiful, technically proficient, musically extremely thoughtful - and profound. As a producer, I have to remember that I am present at recording sessions […] for professional reasons. It is so easy to just sit and listen and get swept away with what he's doing. These Beethovens are remarkable."