Evgeny Kissin

Programme to include:

Schubert Sonata in D major
Scriabin Sonata No 2 in G sharp minor
Scriabin Selection of Etudes from Op 8

Evgeny Kissin comes to the Barbican to play music by one of the great pianistic provocateurs.

Throughout his extraordinary and astonishing life, Alexander Scriabin continued to write the short pieces for piano that furthered his magical yet bizarre musical world-view. At the time of his Second Piano Sonata in 1897, Scriabin was perfecting his Chopin-meets-Impressionism style with a piece that, in part, reflected a ‘caressing moonlight coming up after the first darkness of night’ and ‘the vast expanse of ocean in stormy agitation.’ By the time of the Opus 8 Etudes, Scriabin was asking audiences to imagine ever-more abstract scenes while forcing pianists into ever-greater technical feats.