Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin, who is famous for his understanding and performance of the classics of Beethoven and Chopin, will give a piano recital in Hong Kong in April, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department said in Hong Kong Tuesday.

 

Kissin's Encore Series will be staged at 8:00 PM on April 4 at the Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Center, according to a press release by the department.

 

Tickets will be available from March 2 onwards.

 

The department also decided to grant half-price concessions to senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients as normal tickets are priced from 550 to 200 HK dollars (US$71 to US$26).

 

In the Hong Kong performance, Kissin will perform Beethoven's and Chopin's delightful classics, including Beethoven's piano sonata and Chopin's scherzo, according to the department.

 

Kissin entered the Moscow Gnessin School of Music when he was six, where he was a student of Anna Pavlovna Kantor. He came to international attention in March, 1984, when then 12-year-old Kissin performed Chopin's Piano Concertos in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory with the Moscow State Philharmonic under Dmitri Kitaenko.

 

During the past years, he has received prestigious awards and status including Musical America's youngest Instrumentalist of the Year in 1995, the Triumph Award in 1977 for his outstanding contribution to Russia's culture, Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Manhattan School of Music in 2001, the Shostakovich Award in Moscow in 2003, as well as the 2005 Herbert von Karajan Music Prize.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2006)