Evgeny Kissin Joins Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra For One Night Only

To kick start the first concert in the Classics Series, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) is pleased to welcome back Evgeny Kissin, a living legend of the piano world, with the innovative and thrilling Piano Concerto no. 1 by Liszt under the baton of Andris Poga, in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall on 5 December 2018. Tickets will be available at URBTIX from tomorrow, 1 September. One performance only so don't miss the chance!

"Without question he [Evgeny Kissin] is a phenomenal pianist, a deeply intuitive and sensitive musician"

--- The New York Times

Evgeny Kissin is a natural musician. A former child prodigy, Kissin made his debut at the age of ten and gained international attention in 1984 at the age of twelve, when he played and recorded both of Chopin's piano concertos with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Kissin was the youngest instrumentalist to win Musical America in 1995, and was the recipient of one of Russia's highest musical honours, The Shostakovich Award. He has dazzled audiences worldwide with his poetic artistry and captivating interpretations of masterworks by Liszt, Chopin and Rachmaninov. This evening, after years of anticipation, Kissin joins hands with the HK Phil for the first time, showcasing his expertise in Liszt.

Considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time, Franz Liszt was also a revolutionary composer. His First Piano Concerto has been described as a "truly seminal work in the history of piano literature". It dispensed with the traditional three-movement structure and opted instead for a single movement which, with its succession of fast and slow sections, provided an exceptional level of integration. The opening work in the programme, Liszt's Les Préludes, is the third of thirteen symphonic poems, a genre invented by the composer, consisting of one movement retelling a story or non-musical theme. Les Préludes ponders the issues of life, love, hatred, joy, struggle and death.

The concert concludes with another symphonic poem, this time by Richard Strauss - Thus Spake Zarathustra, most memorably used in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Beyond this familiar opening, the work follows the epic tale by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche which charts the development of Zarathustra's philosophical journey.

Classics: Kissin Plays Liszt will be held on 5 Dec (Wed), 8PM in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets priced: HK$780 $580 $380 $280 will be available at URBTIX on 1 Sep (Sat). For enquiries, please call +852 2721 2332 or visit www.hkphil.org.

Artists

Andris Poga, conductor [full biography]

Andris Poga has been the music director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra since the 2013/4 season. Highlights of recent seasons have included concerts with the leading orchestras of Germany, France, Italy, Japan and other countries. After the first successful collaborations he has been invited back to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester Hamburg, WDR Symphony Cologne, Munich Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphony-Orchester Berlin, Dresden Philharmonic and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

Evgeny Kissin, piano [full biography]

Evgeny Kissin's musicality, the depth and poetic quality of his interpretations, and his extraordinary virtuosity have earned him the veneration and admiration reserved only for the most gifted classical pianists of his generation and, arguably, generations past. He is in demand the world over, and has appeared with many of the world's great conductors including Abbado, Ashkenazy, Barenboim, Dohnányi, Giulini, Levine, Maazel, Muti and Ozawa, as well as all the great orchestras of the world.

CLASSICS: KISSIN PLAYS LISZT

5 | 12 | 2018

WED 8PM

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

HK$780 $580 $380 $280

Tickets are available at URBTIX from 1 September

Discounts are not available for this concert

Maximum 2 tickets per transaction

Each credit card can only make one purchase on the first day of ticket sale

For ages 6 and above

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