I was never a fan of Evgeny Kissin until I heard his interpretation of the Beethoven “Moonlight” Sonata, released a couple of years ago. I knew his Carnegie Hall début recording, and all the ones in between. Then, as now, I thought of them as technically agile but not much else. I thought the piano itself did most of the work. I liked a certain Chopin Mazurka in D-Flat major, but who could get that wrong? It’s an awkwardly triumphant little ditty that a school kid could perfect.
Kissin: This Dude
I do not have a fondness for people who do only one thing in life. I mean, it’s cool. I append that comment: I have no favoritism for those who do one thing in life over those who do many things. We all die the same, happy or not on a day-to-day basis. Stories told by people who hated their jobs are interesting in their venom. When you quiz someone on the jobs they say they hated you find they have more interesting and life-worthy stories than the triumphs recalled by those who loved their jobs. Jobs are jobs. Work is work. For a few years I did what this guy does for a living. I would not go back to that life but it’s a happiness for me to check in and see people still doing what they did when they were 6.
Critical point, though, re: Wang vs. Kissin. Can you imagine if this dude came out on stage wearing a tank-top t-shirt and basically no pants?
