Watch Evgeny Kissin play some completely epic Rachmaninov

16 June 2017, 11:29 | Updated: 16 June 2017, 11:33

By Lizzie Davis

The Prelude in C sharp minor is one of the most famous piano pieces ever written, and the great Russian pianist played it just for us, to mark the publication of his new book, Memoirs and Reflections

Evgeny Kissin is one of the greatest pianists in the world. He shot to fame as a child prodigy and recorded Chopin’s piano concertos with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra at the tender age of 12.

He’s only 45 now, but he’s packed more into those 45 years than most musicians do in a lifetime.

So it’s no surprise that he’s just published a book about his life-story (so far) called Memoirs and Reflections. (It’s available to order now on Amazon).

We caught up with him in London where he told us about his book and played some phenomenal Rachmaninov and Chopin for us. He also appeared on Charlotte Green's show last weekend and spoke about his amazing career. You can listen again here.

Chopin's Minute Waltz

‘Great classical music will remain alive as long as mankind continues to exist.’

The great pianist shared with us his love for Chopin and his belief that classical music is timeless.

How to learn a piece by Rachmaninov?

The Russian composer's music is notoriously difficult, so we asked Evgeny – who has played his music his whole life – to talk us through how he approaches one Rachmaninov's preludes. Here's what he said:

Evgeny Kissin's new book, Memoirs and Reflections, is out now.