The New York Times
Allan Kozinn
Reviews of Christina Kiss in English
"Christina Kiss, a young Hungarian pianist and a winner in many music competitions around the world, played Bartók and Liszt last Sunday evening at Alice Tully Hall. Miss Kiss's technical reliability in all this music was unshakable. Stylistically, there was never a hair out of place." Bernard Holland, The New York Times
The New York Times
Bernard Holland
The New York Times
Allan Kozinn
"But what made Miss Kiss's performance exciting was the sense that she seemed to see the works as tone-poems and emotional outpourings rather than simply as display pieces. In her best moments, her tempos had an elasticity that made her readings breathe and transformed their technical fire into something deeper." Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
The New York Times
Bernard Holland
"A young pianist with both the temperament and stamina for such a big job...Ms. Kiss never gave in to the extreme and often awkward technical difficulties." Bernard Holland, The New York Times
"Flames blazed from the keyboard. Kiss demonstrated a sovereign command of the keyboard...destined for a major international career." Bette Spero, Newark Star Ledger
The Star-Ledger
Bette Spero
Alan Walker
Author of a 3 volume biography on Franz Liszt
"Christina Kiss commands our admiration. In an age when even the greatest virtuosos routinely take a week to make a single CD of Liszt's music, leaving a trail of wrong notes on the cutting-room floor, her avowed intention is to play every work Liszt composed for the piano, IN PUBLIC. That is a formidable undertaking. It is akin to walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope, without a safety-net. Liszt wrote hundreds of works for the piano, and some of them are notoriously difficult. Christina Kiss is well into a journey - an odyssey of epic proportions - that brings honour both to her and to Franz Liszt." Alan Walker (Author of a 3-volume, prize-winning biography of Liszt)
The New York Post
Robert Kimball
"Advice from colleagues and friends can be very important in shaping a musical program, especially for a New York Debut. It was the illustrious André Watts who suggested to 23-year-old Budapest-born pianist Christina Kiss that she play an all-Hungarian program at Tully Hall the other night. Miss Kiss, who was the 1980 Grand prize Winner of the American Music Scholarship Association’s International Piano Competition and who impressed many connoisseurs with her playing at the recent Van Cliburn Competition, devoted half her program to Bartók and half to Liszt even though her repertory extends from Scarlatti to Schoenberg. She tackled everything she played with the fearlessness of a football linebacker. Not even the Liszt Sonata held any terrors for her. She has the talent, temperament and technique for a major career."
"Christina Kiss has resumed her historic Liszt Cycle Oct. 23, 2004, after a brief respite, with a dazzling stage perfomance that left the audience spellbound. Performing a demanding program of several Liszt Transcriptions and other lesser known works her renditions of Réminiscences des Puritains (Bellini), Polonaise aus Tchaikovsky's Opera "Onegin" brought cheers of "Bravo!" resounding throughout the hall. To the crowds surprise Liszt's God Save The Queen-Concert Paraphrase struck a chord close to home, for the melody is none other than that used to carry the lyrics of America's,"...sweet land of Liberty," which some spectators enthusiastically sang as Ms. Kiss performed. Upon performing Liszt's Illustrations from Meyerbeer's Opera L'africaine Christina's finger began to bleed, yet she not only finished the lengthy piece undaunted but then miraculously gave not one, but two, Chopin encores! A spectacular display of monumental talent coupled with a passion and determination rarely experienced... and all the more rewarding for those fortunate enough to attend."
Rich DiSilvio
Music Scholar and fiction and nonfiction author
The Star-Ledger
"The fact is, Christina Kiss is a remarkable pianist, the winner of numerous international prizes and competitions. But what most impresses knowledgable listeners about the artist is that she appears to be a complete musician already."
More reviews!
“Christina Kiss has set herself the daunting task of playing all of Franz Liszt’s solo piano works, including the transcriptions and arrangements, in 25 concerts between this year and 1994. On the evidence of her second installment, which she played on Saturday afternoon at Weill Recital Hall, Miss Kiss has the technique, the temperament and the stamina that the project requires.”
The New York Times
Allan Kozinn
5/5
“The Liszt Cycle is truly an extraordinary event of international importance. It will become a new goal and standard of achievement in the piano world.” Fernando Laires, Former President of the American Liszt Society
Fernando Laires
President of the American Liszt Society
5/5
The Star-Ledger
Michael Redmond
“The Bartók was given no less than a sensational performance by Christina Kiss.”
The Star-Ledger
Michael Redmond
"Christina Kiss appears to be destined for a major international career. She ranks among the most gifted pianists this listener has heard in 15 years of reviewing. A scholarship student of György Sándor at the Juilliard School, Kiss is by no means unknown in the music world. The pianist has appeared as soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony and the orchestras of Budapest and Barcelona, and in recital throughout Europe and the United States. She has won competitions and awards."
"Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of her technique is its clarity. There was nothing hidden, muffled or smudged in Kiss’s playing; every note, even in prestissimo passages, was crystal clear. The lines were etched in silver, the inner voices in gold. This pianist has fingers like the late Glenn Gould, each one with its own little brain. Her reading of the Etude No. 4 in C Sharp minor, Op. 10, has to be heard to be believed. Everything was played with brilliance and sympathy; indeed, hers was Chopin with heart on sleeve. But the very best playing of all, the token of the artistry to which Christina Kiss can rise, came in some of the simple, slow and dreamy places. Such as the “snowfall” passages of the C Sharp minor scherzo, the lyric section of the E Major scherzo (gloriously sung!), and the searching questions of the Etude No. 7 in C Sharp minor, Op. 25 (this was deep playing)."
The Star-Ledge
Michael Redmond
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Nancy Malitz
"Kiss’s interpretation of the first movement of Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 was both powerful and poetic. Her playing has a natural joy and exuberance kept under control by impressive technique. She was by far the most exciting of the four and appeared willing to take risks, a characteristic extremely rare in a competition."
More Reviews Below!
5/5
Dear Christina, When you were in my class at Juilliard you told me, that someday you would perform publicly everything Liszt wrote for the piano, and eventually record it. I remember you saying, “You don’t understand. I love Liszt passionately, and I will do it.” I replied, “Love will conquer,” And indeed Christina Kiss has performed 32 all-Liszt recitals (550 works) and she has another 500 to go-and I know the gods of the piano all wish her well, especially Liszt himself. May you enjoy her marvelous first CD’s of the master’s work played with brilliance and indeed love. David Dubal
David Dubal
Author, Radio Host, Musicologist
Piano and Keyboard Magazine
Sarah Cahill
"Kiss, whose primary teachers were György Sándor and Kornél Zempléni, completed her studies at the Academy and at Juilliard. With more than two dozen prizes from international competitions under her belt, it’s no wonder she has developed a very positive attitude. “I don’t give up easily,” she says."
The New York Times
"The line between bravery and foolhardiness may be a thin one, and undertaking to perform the complete solo piano works of Liszt — from memory — in several dozen recitals might easily fall on either side. Christina Kiss, a pianist who was born in Budapest and has won prizes at several international competitions, undertook this project in 1990 and has so far made it through about 550 works, leaving enough to keep her busy, she estimates, through 2015 (a decade beyond her original projection). Ms. Kiss has not listed a program for her recital tomorrow but at this point, more than 30 installments into the series, it scarcely matters. More to the point, Ms. Kiss has the bravura technique and imagination to make this mammoth project work, and if you’re a Liszt fancier, this is clearly the place to be. Tomorrow afternoon at 2, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall. (212 247-7800. tickets: $35 to $45.
Kozinn
The New York Times"
The New York Times
Allan Kozinn
More reviews below!
“Christina Kiss has been acclaimed by the N.Y. Times as a pianist with “bravura, thunders and passionate phrase shaping” and “destined for a major international career” by the N.Y. Post. She will perform an All-Liszt recital on Sunday afternoon Oct 17 at 2 p.m. at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital hall. Kiss also instruct young pianists of all ages and levels.”
5/5
Suburban News New Jersey
“Kiss has performed numerous times at the Kennedy center, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, The United nations, and Carnegie Hall. Concert tours have taken her to Italy. Spain, Greece, Austria, Hungary, France, Belgium, Israel, and the U.S. She is a frequent soloist with the world’s leading orchestra’s including the Barcelona, Cincinnati and Budapest Philharmonic.
Born in Budapest, Kiss completed her studies at the Franz Liszt Academy and Juilliard with György Sándor and Kornél Zempléni. She received First Prize at Barcelona’s 1979 Maria Canals International Piano Competition, First Prize at Cincinnati’s International American Music Competition, and two dozen additional prizes at international competitions on three continents.”
5/5
Suburban News new Jersey
“Quality carries day in return to Romance at Rutgers
Pianist Christina Kiss as Clara Schumann played with emotional and technical assurance… Kiss’ performance of Clara’s variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann grew in intensity from beginning to end.”
5/5
The Star-Ledger
Paul Somers
Visit the International Reviews page for More Reviews
Or Scroll Down to read selected reviews in languages other than english!
A few hungarian reviews!
Amerikai Magyar Szó
Vilmányi Zita
5/5
"Amerikai magyar szó Vilmányi Zita Csendes megilletődéssel vártuk a koncert megkezdését mind azokkal együtt, akik lassan már kilenc éve csodáljuk Kiss Krisztina művészetét. Azt a töretlen energiát, a tökéletes koncentrációt, amellyel bámulatba ejt bennünket, s amely egyetlen pillanatban sem hagyta még cserben. Akármi történik is, már beírta nevét a legnagyobb előadóművészek arany lapjai közé ez a fiatal magyar művésznő, az egyetlen aki vállalkozott arra, hogy élő koncertek sorozatában adja elő a Liszt életmű teljes zongorára komponált anyagát. Legutóbb, a koncert középpontjában, a francia zeneszerző Berlioz Fantasztikus Szimfóniájának átírata állt. A Romantikus zeneirodalom egyik legismertebb és leg monumentálisabb műve, öt tételben, nem kevesebb mint 50 percnyi hosszúságú zongoradarab. Szenvedélyes és romantikus zene, attól a Berlióztól, aki Liszt barátja volt, s akinek a hires Rákóczi-indulót köszönhetjük mi magyarok. A szinek karakterek és érzelmek felvonultatása, szerelmi álmodozások, bálok és látomások, már-már szinte hatásvadászó eszközökkel tarkított romantikus alkotás ez, végén alvilági tombolása, melybe a zeneszerző beleszőtte a híres Dies Irae ősi Gregorián dallamát is. Mindez Liszt csodálatos átiratában tökéletesen megelevenedett Krisztina kezei alatt. (Ügye azt már nem kell ismételnünk, hogy mindezt fejből, kotta nélkül! Előadva) Liszt a mindig önzetlen barát, aki különös képességeit zeneszerző társai és barátai szolgálatába állította, minden idők legnagyobb zongoraművész géniusza volt, akit fejedelmek, az orosz cár és maga a római pápa is csodálattal hallgatott. Nem kevésbé mint korának egyéb hangszeres virtuózait, például a hegedűs Paganinit. És ez a csodálatos Virtuóz elkerülte a külső csillogás minden csapdáját, melegszívűségével, segítőkészségével, önzetlenségével és szelidségével örök példát mutat az utókornak. Talán - vagy bizonyosan? - Ez az ami a magyar művésznőnek mindig erőt és kitartást ad a további életpályáján. Próbálkozunk áprilisban amikor is Chopin műveket fogunk hallani. Vilmányi Zita"
5/5
"Deák Pál Kiss Krisztina hangversenye Vincenzo Gonzago, Mantova hercege, Rubenst Küldte a spanyol királyhoz követként, hogy festményeivel megnyerje annak jóindulatát. Claudio Monteverdiért, aki az első operákat írta, és szintén a herceg egyik leggyönörübb gyémántja volt, versengtek az uralkodók. Még Ausztria házasodott, más udvarok háborúztak, a mantovai udvar a művészetekkel hódított. Magyarországnak nem egy ilyen követő akadt már a nagyvilágban, akik sikerrel gyarapították az ország hírét, nevét. A mai időkben talán ez jobban is illik, mint az egykori vad öldöklés. Most nagy örömre újra egy ilyen követ járja a világot és hódít Magyarországnak. E fiatal teremtés neve Krisztina Kiss, aki már nem ismeretlen a világ előtt, főleg azok előtt, akik Lisztet szeretik. Vállalkozása nem kevesebb, mint négy éven keresztül 25 koncertben bemutatni a zeneszerző életművét. Legutóbbi fellépése a New-York-i Carnegie Hallban volt, ahol ismét megcsillant kivételes tehetsége. A Paganini etüdök már a műsor felénél igazi sikert ígértek. Paganínit, a nagy hegedű virtuóz cseppet sem könnyű darabjait, melyiket Liszt oly nagy szeretettel dolgozott át, Krisztina csodálatos átéléssel, könnyed, játékos kézzel tolmácsolta. És a terem nem maradt érzéketlen, dörgö tapsvihar tört ki, megrészegítve a hallgatóságot. A fiatal művésznő a közönség szeretetétől szinte mámarosan folytatta előadását, amely talán ettől a pillanattól fogva már több is volt egy egyszerű fellépésnél. A lelkek találkozása volt. Ellenpontként, Wágner Trisztán és Izoldajából, Izolda áriájának átdolgozását játszotta, mely igazi súlyos zene, betölti a türelmet emelkedettséggel, klasszikus hangzásával. Verdi Trubadúrjából a Miserere szerepelt a műsoron. És talán a legszebb a befejezés volt: Liszt 2. Magyar Rapszódiája. Vidám kis patakok, pacsirták, lágy zöldellő dombok elevenedtek meg. Vidám lovasok vágtattak keresztül szemünk előtt, csorda ballagott hazafelé, és láttam a népet is, mely teszi a dolgát, kenyeret ad az országnak. Mennydörgö tapsvihar és háromszori ráadás után ért véget az előadás. A gratulálók hosszú sora a művésznő 5 emeleti szobájától a 3 emeleten lévő előadó teremig ért, és Krisztina a következőket mondta: “Az első pillanattól kezdve éreztem, hogy velem van a közönség.” A következő fellépés ez év április 6-án, este 8.30-kor lesz a Carnegie Hallban. Deák Pál"
Amerikai Magyar Szó
Deák Pál
Amerikai Magyar Szó
Deák Pál
5/5
"Kiss Krisztina hangversenyen New York - ban Egy kiváló fiatal magyar zongoraművésznő, Kiss Krisztina, Liszt Ferenc legszebb műveit játsza november 10-én, Szombaton, d.u. 2 órakor a Carnegie Hall Weill Hall-jában 57-es utca és hetes Ave. címén. Kiss Krisztina több mint 1000 hangversenyén lépett már fel világszerte és két tucat díjat nyert nemzetközi versenyeken. Feladatául tüzte ki, hogy négy éven belül bemutatja a Liszt minden zongorára írt művét. A második hangverseny november 10-én lesz, melyre a helyárak $20 és $14. Jegyek rendelhetők az Encore International címén P.O. Box 632. Alpine, NJ, 07620, Vagy kaphatók a Carnegie Hall pénztáránál. Tudjuk, hogy sok Liszt kedvelő van olvasóink között. Ezeknek feltétlenül meg kell hallgatniuk Kiss Krisztina hangversenyét." Deák Pál
Selected italian reviews
Il Piccolo
Cronache Degli Spettacoli
Con krisztina Kiss un grande Schumann
Edoardo Guglielmi
Interprete di tecnica gli saldissima (si pensi agli sbalzi, della mano sinistra nel sesto studio e alle folgoranti successioni, di accordi del decimo studio, che sembra avere a ideale prtagonista l’ardente Florestano), Krisztina Kiss sfiora appena il lato demoniaco, visionario del mondo di Schumann. ha Giulia scuor, offrednoci la prova di un’accresciuta autorità e di una fine penetrazione, non ha avuto difficoltà a recrearne la poesia.
Edoardo Guglielmi
Il Piccolo
Edoardo Gugliemi
L’osservatore Romano
(Roman Observer)
A Stresa
Le rivelazioni del giovane concertismo
Ma di tutto questo ciclo dedicato ai giovani ci è forse parso il più stimolante quello del 9 settembre. Che aveva per così dire carattere di gruppo, dato che si sono visti alternarsi alla ribalta alcuni giovani artisti eletti a rappresentare i Seminari di Primavera di Interpretazione Musicale di Trieste Sessione 1980. Sono la pianista ungherese Krisztina Kiss, il soprano Sylvia Rhys-Thomas in due con il pianista viennese Helmut Deutsch e il due triestino Federico Agostino-Giulana Gulli, violino e pianoforte nonché figlio e madre.
Luigi Fait
Il Piccolo
Edoardo Gugliemi
Il Piccolo
Cronache Degli Spettacoli
Irresistibile ascesa di Krisztina Kiss
Gorizia — Nel novembre dell’anno scroso, dopo l’esecuzione delle ‘sonata’ op. 10 n.3 offerta da Krisztina kiss, parlammo di un giovane Beethoven toccato dalla grazia e dalla faciltà. Ora, nei nuovo concerto della giovanissima pianista ungherese, era il cosidetto ‘terzo stille’ a proporci tutti i suoi enigmi, fin da quelle battute iniziali dell’opera 109 che sembrano nascere da un’improvvisazione.
….
E Krisztina Kiss, apparsarci irrobustita nella scansione di ogni frase, ha perfettamente illuminato — con acuta intelligenza interpretativa, sottilissima calibratura dinamica — il piegarsi di Beethoven e nuove intenzioni creative.
Il Piccolo
Il Piccolo
Il giovani Beethoven di Kristina Kiss
Edoardo Guglielmi
Gorizia — Formatasi all’Accademia Liszt di Budapest e ai corsi salisburghesi di Carlo Zecchi, la ventenne pianista ungherese Krisztina Kiss fu la rivelazione degli ultimi ‘Seminari di primavera’. Ora ha tenuto un bel concerto all’Istituto di musica, suscitando nuovi entusiami e nuove speranze. Fuori d’ogni dubbio il raggiungimento di un livello di maturità che dovrebbe presto schiuderle il cammino verso le maggioro istituzione musicali. Il programma si è aperto con Beethoven: la terza ‘Sonata’ dell’opera 10, fonte e matrice di buona parte dell’opera pianistica Beethoveniana, fino alle ‘Sonate’ del cosiddetto ‘terzo stile’ (la vecchia ripartizione del Lenz, passata attravenso vistose oscillazioni di giudizio, viene oggi rivalutata). Proprio in questa ‘Sonata’, che ci ricorda l’ultimo concerto di Richter a Trieste, krisztina Kiss si è imposta ancora una volta nell’imperiosità del fraseggio e nelle mutevoli accensioni che rendono il discorso beethoveniano così affascinante. Pochi interpreti sanno calari ad esplorare le profondità del giovane Beethoven, per riemergerne con tanta freschezza e tanta ricchezza d’impulsi.
Cerchi ciascuno nei ‘Preludi’ di Chopin, scriveva Schumann, ciò che lo può rendere lieto, e solo il filisteo rimanga lontano, a giudicare dagli applausi, non dovevano essere in molti i filistei presenti al concerto di Krisztina Kiss. E il vasto ciclo chopiniano, eloquente fino al massimo dell’intimismo (secondo il preciso ritratto di Chopin offertosi da Alfred Einstein), ha letteralmente affascinato il pubblica goriziano.
Cronica di Gorizia
Concerto della pianist Kristina Kiss
La Pianista Kiss
Oggi all’istituto di musica, per il quarto concerto della serie d’autunno, si presenterà la giovane pianista ungherese Krisztina Kiss che la direzione dell’istituto di musica ha invitato a Gorizia per un suo recital. Nata a Budapest, la Kiss ha frequentado prima la scuola specializzata per la musica quindi l’accademia musicale e, infine, per il perfezionamento, l’accademia Franz Liszt. Ha vinto il concorso internazionale in Cecoslovacchia ed è resultata fra le migliori in vari altri concorsi. A Gorizia Krisztina Kiss presenterà un programma di tutto riguardo con musiche de Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin. Il concerto, al quale il pubblico potrà accedere gratuitamente, si svolgerà alle 18.