Evgeny Igorevich Kissin was born in Moscow on the 10th of October 1971. He started to play the piano at the age of two, as soon as he was tall enough to reach the keyboard and he has not looked back from that day to this.

His is a very rare story of continued success that has had the simultaneous blessing of critics, the public and musicians alike.

The film 'The Gift of Music' by Christopher Nupen, who gave us The Trout, the Jacqueline du Pré films and so many other classics, is a film which shows Kissin in preparation, interview, rehearsal and performance, with several dazzling performances shot live on stage, in true concert conditions.

It also contains all the encores from Kissin’s memorable Promenade concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in August, 1997. This was the first Prom in the 103-year history of the celebrated Promenade Concerts to be given by a solo recitalist and it attracted the biggest audience in all of those 103 years - very nearly six thousand people.

The music is by Liszt, Gluck, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Paganini, Kissin himself and Chopin, the composer for whom Kissin feels the closest affinity.

At the end of his Albert Hall recital, Evgeny Kissin played the longest succession of encores in the history of the Proms, an extraordinary and historic event which was made into a sequel film entitled 'Evgeny Kissin at the Royal Albert Hall - The Encores'.

The first is a portrait film, the second a performance film with the added element of historic occasion. On this DVD the two films are combined to keep the narrative moving.


Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all regions)
Picture format: 16:9
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles: French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
Running time: 104 minutes