Been a while since you heard an Evgeny Kissin recital? Been hankering for another one? Well, the virtuosic Russian pianist will visit Carnegie Hall on May 3. But in the meantime, you can buy his new recital disc on RCA Red Seal. It was recorded live at the Verbier Festival — Switzerland — in July 2004. And the program is all-Chopin.

Mr. Kissin is 35 now, a long way from his Soviet boyhood, when he would appear in his red Young Pioneers scarf. He was a phenomenal child prodigy, knocking audiences out, in person and on disc.

In his Chopin recital from Verbier, Mr. Kissin plays four polonaises and three impromptus, plus the Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66. You can tell the recording is live by the applause and whoops at the beginning. Those whoopers obviously expect that they will hear something good. Does it turn out to be true?

Yes, mainly. Mr. Kissin begins with the two polonaises of Op. 26: the first in C-sharp minor, the second in E-flat minor. These polonaises are relatively little known, but it should not be so. Mr. Kissin takes command immediately, tucking into the C-sharp-minor with relish. He plays with swagger, panache, and assurance. Ah, yes, assurance: Mr. Kissin has always been a fearless and convinced pianist, no matter what you think of what he’s doing.

Throughout this first polonaise, Mr. Kissin is intelligent and sensitive, showing little of that thumping, or thudding, quality that can mar his playing. But there is certainly some of that — for example, Mr. Kissin’s turns are rather awkward. And some of Chopin’s filigree is less lacy than thick.

Mr. Kissin plays the second polonaise — the one in E-flat minor — dramatically, almost operatically. And he marches through this piece like a one-man army at war. It is a bracing experience.

The pianist next presents an impromptu, that in A flat, Op. 29. This piece ought to be smooth and rippling, and Mr. Kissin does not make it so. Furthermore, the piece is slower than we’re accustomed to. But it is not uninteresting, not at all. The subsequent impromptu — F sharp, Op. 36 — ought to take us into dreamland, but Mr. Kissin is far too big and muscular in it for that. Also, his playing is blocky, blockiness being another quality that mars Mr. Kissin. This impromptu should be much gentler and tenderer. But the middle section of the piece — rhapsodic — is impressive.

The third impromptu is that in G flat, Op. 51. It should sort of slink around, and Mr. Kissin is on the obvious and blunt side. And he sometimes pounds rather than sings. But this rendition is compelling in its way — a Kissinesque way. His phrasing is smart, and his sense of musical timing the same.

Then we have that well-loved Fantaisie-Impromptu. Mr. Kissin plays this as he has the other pieces, with his blend of admirable qualities and unfortunate ones. He handles the cascades of notes with unusual, commendable clarity. And how about that song in the middle, the one converted into “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”? It is not very songful, I’m afraid. Mr. Kissin ends his program with two more polonaises, far better known than the two he began with. These are the Polonaise in C minor, Op. 40, No. 2, and the Polonaise in A flat, Op. 53.

Mr. Kissin invests the first with incredible nobility, dignity, and majesty, recalling Artur Rubinstein (a very good pianist to recall). Later, he contributes some gratifying warmth. But mainly, we hear that nobility, that swelling nobility, that makes this piece right. Mr. Kissin absolutely owns it.

The beginning of the A-flat polonaise is excitingly anticipatory, as it should be. And Mr. Kissin goes through the piece like a lawn mower. The lefthand octaves in the middle section are amazingly fast, and they seem to get faster. Mr. Kissin’s use of rubato — license with tempo — is artistic. And hackneyed as this piece is, it is glorious, when played like this. The ending is surprisingly flat, a little ordinary. But it can’t spoil a powerful account.

This entire disc is note-perfect — “studio-perfect,” a musician friend of mine says — making one doubt the “liveness” of it. Was there some fixing up in the engineering lab? Probably so. But there routinely is. And this is one of the most satisfying discs Evgeny Kissin has ever made.