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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/a...at-carnegie-hall.html?ref=music&_r=0

Anyone go?

looks like he's coming to my area too lol. But this time it's completely sold out (and a bigger theater). So I won't be able to do a second review for you on this one.

Wow. That's the best review an artist can get. I hope there's a recording

Hi all. I just saw him perform and here are my immediate impressions.

The Schubert was unfamiliar to me and not terribly compelling. Seemed to be kind of all over the place and Kissin was pushing and pulling the tempo a bit, though not to the point where it fell apart. Admirably light fingerwork, though, and very clean, transparent articulation.

The Scriabin sonata was good but struck me as rather straightforward in the first movement. Nice balancing of voices. Wish he would have allowed it to breathe more between phrases. Second movement seemed a tiny bit slower than I'm used to hearing it but more colorful and redolent of the sea. Yet there was a kind of restraint that made the ending feel slightly anticlimactic somehow.

The Scriabin etudes came off best, Kissin diving in and tackling them headlong. #9 in G# was a particular highlight for me.

Three encores, I believe exactly the same as in Carnegie Hall (Bach/Kempff Siciliana, Scriabin Etude in C# Minor Op. 42 No. 5, Chopin Heroic Polonaise). Siciliana was plaintive and intimate, lovely singing tone. Etude was dazzling and the cleanest I've heard him play it, almost to the point where I wonder if those unfamiliar to the piece would be able to tell just what a monster it is. Contrary to the sonata, I wished he didn't breathe so much between the phrases here. Polonaise was grand, though such a warhorse I just can't hear it freshly anymore.

One thing I have to say, the concert etiquette seemed particularly off. I rarely go to live performances but both here and at one I attended a few months ago there was behavior that struck me as out of place. For example, tonight I heard many plastic water bottles crinkling or even being dropped, and someone nearby opened a can of soda during a particularly quiet passage in the music. A cellphone or some device sounded in both the first and second half. And very early on, after the first movement of the Schubert sonata, some people applauded, after which it seemed Mr. Kissin made sure not to pause between almost all of the cohesive works he played from that point on.

I try not to be a snob, especially as I think some people take the behavior of people at recitals a little too seriously, but I really don't know what to make of tonight. It didn't ruin the evening for me, but I guess I've never noticed such prevalent distracting behavior at a classical event and I wonder if it's a sign of the times or just of the crowd I was among (I noticed a lot of people around me speaking in what sounded like Russian and I wonder if concert etiquette is just different there).

In my opinion it is a sign of the times. Piano is a noble instrument and it's performance always deserves the highest degree of courtesy. I would be pretty disheartened too, but most people just don't care about it as much as we do.

He was here last night (I had to work); the critics raved...

After my news story gets published/broadcast, it, in your opinion, will get even worse. And, you know what, it will be historically 100% accurate!

For the few who took my advice and bought the book of one of my sources: Kenneth Hamilton's "After The Golden Age," you will have learned that audiences in the 19th century not only talked during performances, but (like rock concerts today) they often started applauding before a piece or performance ended.

Why? Because, it is a natural thing to do if you like what you have just heard.

Franz Liszt used to wait in the wings to see if people would applaud after a movement of one of his orchestral works. If they didn't, he would consider the performance a failure.

But, don't listen me. I didn't learn my "History Of Western Music" from his holiness Donald J. Grout.

just checked to see if he would be in Los Angeles (just saw this thread).. he will be tomorrow at Walt Disney Concert Hall, but unfortunately all tickets are sold.. in non-classical piano news, just found out John Legend will be at Walt Disney Concert hall this Wednesday with his "All of Me" tour. sold out as well.. darnit!

I couldn't buy the ticket - The tickets were completely sold out for this year's Carnegie Hall concert... He is scheduled to play in May 2015.. Gotta get the ticket early I guess.

A great shame; I was there tonight - plenty of extra tickets to spare last minute, according to the box office!!