In August 2021, as the Salzburg Festival made a return to full capacity, Evgeny Kissin drew a sell-out crowd to the city’s Grosses Festspielhaus. He treated his audience to a strikingly original program of works by Alban Berg, Frédéric Chopin, George Gershwin and, to the surprise of some, Tikhon Khrennikov. A generous selection of encores featured one of Kissin’s own compositions. The pianist is quick to note that he is always “more inspired in front of an audience,” and on this occasion his choice of music and spellbinding artistry combined to create a performance which was notable for its “deep intensity and concentration” (Bachtrack).