Prodigies are programmed by their genes to learn at a very early age what the rules are and to manipulate them with extraordinary skill. The term prodigy comes from the Latin prodigium and originally connoted "monster" or "evil omen," but its meaning in modern usage is that of "an extraordinarily precocious child." Prodigies occur only in music, chess and mathematics, disciplines characterized by complex rule structures that do not depend upon life experience - as do writing and painting. "But I've never heard of anything like it, and neither has anyone else I know." "I don't like to say that anything is unheard of," says Lenti about Kissin's early achievements. Vincent Lenti, director of the Eastman School of Music's preparatory division and a nationally recognized expert on teaching musically gifted children, says that an untutored 6-year-old able to improvise with complicated harmonies and to play by ear music as challenging as Chopin's A-flat Ballade is beyond rare. He was also the most prodigiously gifted child she had ever encountered. "He was a little, little boy, with big wide eyes and curly, curly hair," says Kantor, 72, as she draws imaginary saucers around her eyes and pats imaginary curls piled high over her head. What does impress is a large collection of books - Kissin reads voraciously in both English and Russian - and a large number of records and CDs, including many historical performances, which reflect the pianist's interest in the old-fashioned virtues of open-heartedness and beautiful sound that distinguish his own playing. The living room is furnished with an unpretentious sofa and rug the dining room is only an alcove off the hall that connects the kitchen to the living room. A visit to their large apartment on the upper West Side does not reveal the kind of lifestyle one expects of a pianist whose fees range from $25,000 to $40,000. New York is now home to Kissin and his close-knit family, which includes his first and only teacher, Anna Kantor. ![]() ![]() The New York Times called Kissin's Tchaikovsky Concerto the best the city - classical music's international crossroads - had heard in years. His appearance tonight in Meyerhoff Hall caps a busy season that began last fall with a performance of Tchaikovsky's First Concerto that opened the Carnegie Hall season and was later broadcast on PBS' "Great Performances" series.
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