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Beautifully captured, Daniil Trifonov's 'Silver Age' is an epic sojourn into Russian aesthetic history / Audiophile Audition
Posted At : December 14, 2020 12:00 AM
Audiophile Audition's Gary Lemco writes......Pianist Daniil Trifonov (b. 1991) conceives this album as a tour of the fin de siècle sensibility in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Paris, a grand kaleidoscope of often revolutionary personalities who consciously assaulted the established, complacent expectations of their musical public. As Trifonov expresses his premise, "The Silver Age of art in Russian history is not a single aesthetic, but describes an increasingly fractured social, political, and intellectual environment – a cocktail of different artistic expressions, in agitated interaction."
An epic sojourn into Russian aesthetic history, beautifully captured (January and October 2019) by Recording Engineers Silas Brown and Marcus Herzog, under the Production supervision of Sid McLauchlan.
READ THE FULL Audiophile Audition REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov's 'Silver Age' is devoted to dazzling works by three Russian greats / Financial Times
Posted At : November 21, 2020 12:00 AM
"The Silver Age period of art in Russian history is not a single aesthetic," says Daniil Trifonov, "but describes an increasingly fractured social, political and intellectual environment."
In essence, he is talking about the first half of the 20th century. In musical terms this means the generation dominated by Stravinsky and Prokofiev, who both spent long periods away from their Russian homeland and whose music straddled international boundaries.
Trifonov's new two-disc set, Silver Age, is devoted largely to these two composers. It is clearly designed to make a major statement, including not only key solo piano works and a smattering of smaller rarities, but also two of the most challenging concertos of the period - Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Scriabin's Piano Concerto.
There is plenty of virtuoso playing to be heard, but the character of Trifonov's performances is not simply that. Stravinsky's technically dazzling Three Movements from Petrushka come across precise, detailed, whimsical, rather than an attempt to mirror an orchestral showpiece on the piano. Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 8 similarly is much more than just wartime driving energy.
In the two concertos Trifonov gets wholehearted support from the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev. The Prokofiev is as memorable for its delicate flights of fantasy as in its trenchant power and the Scriabin takes off with tremendous, soaring élan.
PHOTO: © Redferns
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Daniil Trifonov - Silver Age is the WFMT: Featured New Release
Posted At : November 16, 2020 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov's latest album for Deutsche Grammophon, recorded with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra, recalls a time when Russia's composers, poets, artists, dramatists, and star performers were among the most original anywhere in the world. Silver Age illustrates the artistic audacity and brilliance of a turbulent era in the country's history with works by three of its most pioneering composers. The Russian pianist's new album includes Scriabin's Piano Concerto, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2, Stravinsky's Three Movements from Petrushka, and solo works by Prokofiev and Stravinsky.
For November 16 2020, Daniil Trifonov - Silver Age is the WFMT: Featured New Release
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Daniil Trifonov celebrates Russia's 'Silver Age' on new album / udiscovermusic.
Posted At : November 6, 2020 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov pays homage to music created during a pivotal period in Russian history on his new album, Silver Age, released today. "The Silver Age period of art in Russian history is not a single aesthetic, but describes an increasingly fractured social, political, and intellectual environment – a cocktail of different artistic expressions, in agitated interaction," he explained.
Features works by Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev
Daniil Trifonov's Silver Age, recorded with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra, recalls a time when Russia's composers, poets, artists, dramatists and star performers were among the most original anywhere in the world. The recording illustrates the artistic audacity and brilliance of a turbulent era in the country's history with works by three of its most pioneering composers – Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev.
READ THE FULL udiscovermusic. REVIEW
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A Washington Post' critic's suggestions for 'art with meaning' during the 'stay-at-home pandemic' includes; Carnegie Hall's Live streaming series
Posted At : July 22, 2020 12:00 AM
As the pandemic grinds on, I find myself trying to be more disciplined about wasting time, especially online. I want to go there only with a purpose, not just to while away a few hours clicking idling from distraction to distraction.
Some artists, and institutions, seem to be equally purposeful, making and doing things for their online audiences with the same sense of intention and meaning. The best of them even offer a sense of what life will be like after the pandemic creates a new normal, when we all live in a hybrid world of "real life" and virtual aesthetic consumption. Here are a few things that meet this new standard.
The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin lived through some of the most riotously creative years of music history in his home country. He was a masterful pianist, deeply influenced by Chopin, but evolved an idiosyncratic style that eventually encompassed his own mix of mysticism and atonality. In his earlier years, he composed in a hyperromantic style and forms, including volatile preludes, dreamy études, ebullient mazurkas and searching sonatas.
Few pianists are better equipped to play this repertoire than Daniil Trifonov, who features Scriabin's music as his selections for Carnegie Hall's streaming Live with Carnegie Hall series. Trifonov knows every nuance of this kinetic and mercurial music. He performs with a face mask on, at a piano in a domestic space; the sound is remarkably good. The stream also includes a conversation between Trifonov and pianist Emanuel Ax.
WATCH THE VIDEO
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Daniil Trifonov shares his thoughts on Rachmaninoff with 90.9WETA - Wash DC
Posted At : March 30, 2020 12:00 AM
Like Rachmaninoff, Danill Trifonov was born in Russia, and is already considered one of the world's great pianists at age 29. He is also a composer, and made his way to the United States where he settled in New York. Despite all these parallels, Trifonov didn't start studying and performing Rachmaninoff's music until he was 21, but he has made up for lost time by releasing three albums devoted to the composer: an album of Rachmaninoff's three sets of variations in 2015; "Departure", featuring concertos 2 & 4, in 2018; and "Arrival", featuring Concertos 1 & 3, in October 2019. All three were done in collaboration with The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. It was in January 2019, just a few months after the release of Departure, that WETA evening host James Jacobs spoke to Daniil Trifonov backstage at the Kennedy Center during a week in which he was appearing with the NSO. In a wide-ranging conversation Trifonov shares his thoughts on Rachmaninoff and reflects on his own career.
LISTEN TO THE WETA: Wash DC INTERVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov's rare artistry illuminates Bach's rarely heard 'Art of Fugue' / The Classical Review
Posted At : March 4, 2020 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov performed music of Bach Sunday afternoon in Chicago. As the 60-degree weather offered hope that another Chicago winter may be coming to an end, there was also the additional spring harbinger of Daniil Trifonov's return to Orchestra Hall. This time the gifted young Russian pianist brought a recital devoted entirely to music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Trifonov's revised program proved even more concentrated than the one scheduled, with most of the afternoon focused on a complete performance of Bach's The Art of Fugue.
Daniil Trifonov repeats the Bach program Wednesday in Washington D.C, March 10 in St. Paul, March 12 in Kansas City and March 15 in Boston for the Celebrity Series.
READ THE FULL Classical Review
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As he readies for the Soka Performing Arts Center, VoiceofOC asks "should you believe the hype about Daniil Trifonov?"
Posted At : February 5, 2020 12:00 AM
Hyperbolic statements, particularly in the arts, should be met with a healthy dose of skepticism. A good question to ask when you hear someone refer to an artist as the "greatest" or the "best," is: "What are you selling?" As Carl Sagan once said, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
In the case of pianist Daniil Trifonov, though, resistance only goes so far. Eye-popping endorsements from the likes of Martha Argerich ("He has everything and more…I never heard anything like that") and The Times of London ("Without question the most astounding pianist of our age") may sound a bit like P.T. Barnum – we live in a world of the most incredible, most amazing, best ever – but a few seconds listening to his work and the cynicism can safely be put away.
It's not so much that one needs to measure him against a field with other virtuosi ("most astounding" compared to who?) but that the sheer force and conviction of his musicianship are sufficient on their own. He's a pianist who, in performance, makes you forget there are others. "Who is the greatest living pianist?" is a ridiculous and unanswerable question but watch him in action and it's hard to imagine anyone drawing out more from the music at hand.
From his triumph at the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (Gold Medal, the Audience Award, and the Grand Prize), it's been a near unbroken series of successes. Named Gramophone's Artist of the Year for 2016, and Musical America's Artist of the Year for 2019, there isn't a major orchestra he hasn't appeared with, a major conductor he hasn't collaborated with, a major concert hall that he hasn't held spellbound. That, plus a busy chamber music career and a commitment to composition (he premiered his own piano concerto with the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2014), and the raw facts give a pretty good idea of the level of artistry and his probing and curious mind.
Currently the New York Philharmonic's artist-in-residence, he is on an international concert tour through June, and Orange County listeners have an opportunity to witness this force of nature themselves as the 28-year-old Russian comes to the Soka Performing Arts Center on Sunday, February 9 with an all-Bach recital, courtesy of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.
READ THE FULL VoiceofOC ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov completes his two-part Destination: Rachmaninoff journey with Arrival, and it is the WFMT: Featured New Release
Posted At : January 8, 2020 12:00 AM
Following Departure, an album hailed by NPR as a "singular combination of swagger and stunning technique," Daniil Trifonov completes his two-part Destination: Rachmaninoff journey with Arrival, a coupling of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3 performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Arrival also features Trifonov's own transcriptions of Rachmaninoff's Vocalise and The Silver Sleigh Bells.
For January 7, 2020 - Daniil Trifonov completes his two-part Destination: Rachmaninoff journey with Arrival, and it is the WFMT: Chicago 'Featured New Release' . SEE THER WFMT PAGE
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Daniil Trifonov: Destination Rachmaninoff-Arrival is the WCLV: Recording Of the Week
Posted At : January 6, 2020 12:00 AM
Following Departure, an album hailed by NPR as a "singular combination of swagger and stunning technique," Daniil Trifonov completes his two-part Destination: Rachmaninoff journey with Arrival, a coupling of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3 performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Arrival also features Trifonov's own transcriptions of Rachmaninoff's Vocalise and The Silver Sleigh Bells. The Sunday Times (UK) said of this October 2019 release: "A towering performance to rank with interpretations by Horowitz and Argerich. The Philadelphians' contribution could hardly be grander or more sumptuous." The Classic Review agreed, "There is so much more to these performances than Trifonov's phenomenal technique, which of course enables him to execute even the most difficult passages with unerring accuracy and tonal beauty. The greater success of this recording…is how completely Trifonov inhabits the complex and profound "gestalt' of this music and its composer."
SEE THE WCLV: Cleveland PAGE
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Yes, we need yet another Rachmaninoff recording and Daniil Trifonov's is splendid / The New York Times
Posted At : January 3, 2020 12:00 AM
New accounts of standard works, even those covered by dozens of classic recordings, can still enliven classical music. The standard repertory in classical music is often standard for good reason: Great works are gifts that keep on giving with repeated hearings.
But what about repeated recordings? It's one thing to hear young pianists take on Rachmaninoff's mighty Third Piano Concerto in concert, with its in-the-moment excitement. But do they really need to record it?
After all, the market is saturated with several dozen recordings. I grew up with Van Cliburn's classic live one from Carnegie Hall, with Kirill Kondrashin conducting the Symphony of the Air, shortly after Cliburn had become an overnight superstar after winning the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Just three years later, Byron Janis, another young American, recorded the concerto with Antal Dorati and the London Symphony Orchestra, a performance some Rachmaninoff devotees consider even better. And the exhilarating, exhausting discography piled up, with spectacular older accounts by of Horowitz, Kapell, Argerich and others, and more recent ones by Leif Ove Andsnes and Evgeny Kissin. And don't forget Rachmaninoff's own recording!
This overload did not stop the young Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov from newly recording the piece with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. That release, on Deutsche Grammophon, completes Mr. Trifonov's two-album survey of the four Rachmaninoff concertos.
And it's splendid. His white-hot virtuosity is tempered by coolheaded thinking and lyrical sensitivity. Passages of teeming intensity are rendered with wondrous clarity and lightness. Yet, when appropriate, Mr. Trifonov shapes phrases and colors chords with milky richness. The third movement is crackling delight.
The recording offers proof that new takes on standard repertory works - if not as essential as recordings of works by living composers or of overlooked scores from the past - can enrich and enliven the art form. It's empowering for performers and audiences alike to have recordings of these scores by artists we can hear today. In the flush of hearing Mr. Trifonov, you may well think: Who needs Horowitz?
Here are some other recent recordings of standard fare that merit attention and add to our understanding of the classics.
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CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER 'Year in Review' includes doubleheader from Daniil Trifonov
Posted At : December 20, 2019 12:00 AM
It wasn't easy to choose, but here are my 10 favorite Cincinnati arts highlights from 2019. Here's a doubleheader as Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, 28, wowed in Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto with the CSO on May 3. Then, on May 5, he played the U.S. premiere of his own Piano Quintet at the Linton Music Series.
Trifonov's new album "Destination Rachmaninov – Arrival" follows the pianist's highly acclaimed album "Destination Rachmaninov – Departure" and this new recording concludes his Rachmaninov project. In addition to the Piano Concertos, this album features a selection of Daniil Trifonov's own Rachmaninov transcriptions including Rachmaninov's famous "Vocalise" and virtuosic "The Silver Sleigh Bells". Finally, the product features an unreleased track of the heart-rending "Vocalise" in an exclusively long version.
READ THE FULL CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov shows barbaric intensity at the Barbican / The Guardian
Posted At : June 11, 2019 12:00 AM
The centrepiece of Daniil Trifonov's residency with the London Symphony Orchestra this month was a solo recital. It was a well-packed, generous performance, which provided further confirmation that the 28-year-old Russian is one of the finest pianists today. Despite his celebrity, though, Trifonov is still revealing new aspects of his artistry. His reputation was founded on his sometimes astounding performances of Chopin, Liszt and Rachmaninov, but here, though his encore was Rachmaninov (an arrangement – perhaps his own? – of Vocalise) his programme was based upon substantial works by Beethoven, Schumann and Prokofiev.
Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian
READ THE FULL Guardian REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov delivers dazzling performance with BSO / MassLive
Posted At : May 1, 2019 12:00 AM
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers.
The moon and the stars.
Peanut butter and jelly.
Some things just go perfectly together.
The same is true when it comes to pianist Daniil Trifonov and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. Both Russian artists have a flair for the dramatic and ferocious talent, especially when it comes to the 28-year-old concert pianist. During his brief but already astounding career, Trifonov has quickly established himself as one of the world's greatest pianists. In one concert after another featuring a wide-ranging repertoire, Trifonov consistently delivers mind-blowing performances which display his deft touch and innovative interpretations of complex compositions. The same was true Tuesday when he performed Rachmaninoff's passionate, precise Third Piano Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
But Shostakovich had his own unique style. And Nelsons and the BSO seem to have a knack for bringing out the best in this Russian composer's often ethereal music. No wonder Nelsons has been so fascinated with Shostakovich's music for so many years. And thankfully, Nelsons can bring his vision for Shostakovich's music to life, thanks to the world-class musicians Nelsons works with in the BSO.
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READ THE FULL MassLive REVIEW
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Trifonov with NSO. It's nice when a concert lives up to its promise / Washington Post
Posted At : January 31, 2019 12:00 AM
It's nice when a concert feels like an event: the crowded hall, the sense of anticipation. It's also nice when it lives up to its promise. Audience members came for Daniil Trifonov, the hipster poet of the piano, who caressed the keys until they yielded music that was like a sinuous being of its own. They stayed - the ones who did stay - for rich and vivid Shostakovich, played by the National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gianandrea Noseda without any soloist.
We're not used to seeing the Kennedy Center Concert Hall this full. But Trifonov, just shy of 28, is the latest piano phenomenon, the don't-miss-him musician of the moment. This was his third appearance with the NSO. Though he won the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011 and has been something of a Wunderkind ever since, he seems to have reached a new level of stardom. The program repeats Friday and Saturday evening.
READ THE FULL Washington Post REVIEW
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As part of a new film, Daniil Trifonov will perform on Chopin original pianos / The Guardian
Posted At : December 16, 2018 12:00 AM
He is a Grammy award-winning musician hailed as "a phenomenon" and one of "the most astounding young pianists of our age". Now the Russian virtuoso Daniil Trifonov is to take another step towards musical stardom when, as part of a new film, he will perform the work of Frédéric Chopin on the same pianos that the composer played on his 1848 concert tour of Britain.
"Other Chopin films have played his music on contemporary pianos, which sound different. Like all my movies, we're trying to recreate history and bring you back in time," said the producer Donald Rosenfeld, former president of Merchant Ivory Productions, who made period classics such as Howards End, starring .Emma Thompson. He and Andreas Roald at Sovereign Films have just acquired the film rights to Paul Kildea's book, Chopin's Piano: A Journey Through Romanticism, which traces the history of Chopin's masterpiece, the 24 Preludes, through the instruments on which they were played. Photograph: Record Company Handout
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READ THE FULL Guardian ARTICLE
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All it took was one live performance from Daniil Trifonov to resoundingly validate why he is the current Big Thing of the piano world / STAGEANDCINEMA
Posted At : November 3, 2018 12:00 AM
All it took was one live performance from Daniil Trifonov (dan-EEL TREE-fon-ov) to resoundingly validate for me why he is the current Big Thing of the piano world. The Liszt-like master's rendition of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (followed by a jaw-dropping encore of Stravinsky's Firebird for piano) convinced me that this is a pianist for the ages.
And as if I needed more validation, he was equally astounding setting fire to the ivories performing Rachmaninov's First Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. And it was the young master who kept me rapt during a recital with violinist Gidon Kremer. Then, combining flawless demonic skill with a fierce tenderness, his piano recital at Disney Hall was the greatest display of piano pyrotechnics I have ever seen.
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READ THE FULL STAGEANDCINEMA REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov - Destination Rachmaninov is one of the outstanding releases of the year / The Guardian
Posted At : October 25, 2018 12:00 AM
One might have thought that the prospect of Daniil Trifonov playing two of Rachmaninov's piano concertos would have been enough to sell a disc without any need for extra marketing gimmicks – Trifonov is perhaps the most exciting pianist to have emerged internationally in the last 30 years, and peerless today as a Rachmaninov interpreter. Yet the album comes encumbered with an odd, awkward title – "Destination Rachmaninov. Departure" – and festooned with moody images of the pianist in an old-fashioned railway carriage. It's strange packaging for one of the outstanding releases of the year, though as soon as you hear it, all that becomes irrelevant.
READ THE FULL Guardian REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov - Destination Rachmaninoff is WFMT: Featured New Release
Posted At : October 19, 2018 12:00 AM
Grammy winner Daniil Trifonov presents a cycle of Sergei Rachmaninoff's highly virtuosic piano concertos. Trifonov performs with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra, the orchestra with which Rachmaninoff himself famously recorded the works over 80 years ago. The two-part journey begins with "Destination Rachmaninoff – Departure," including the great Piano Concerto No. 2, probably his best-loved work, paired with the equally beautiful and rarely performed Fourth Concerto. These voluminous works are contrasted with Rachmaninoff's solo piano transcriptions of Bach's Violin Partita in E Major.
For October 19, 2018, Daniil Trifonov: Destination Rachmaninoff – Departure is WFMT: Chicago 'Featured New Release'
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Daniil Trifonov: Destination Rachmaninov is KDFC 'Album Of the Week'
Posted At : October 15, 2018 12:00 AM
New and noteworthy is a recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2, arguably the composer's best-loved piece, with the young Russian superstar pianist Daniil Trifonov joining the legendary Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The disc also includes the lesser-known 4th Concerto and a Rachmaninoff transcription of a Bach Partita. Listen for selections from this new release throughout this week on KDFC.
Daniil Trifonov: Destination Rachmaninov - Departure is KDFC: San Francisco 'Album Of the Week'
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Daniil Trifonov: Destination Rachmaninov is KUSC 'Album Of the Week'
Posted At : October 15, 2018 12:00 AM
New and noteworthy is a recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #2, arguably the composer's best-loved piece, with the young Russian superstar pianist Daniil Trifonov joining the legendary Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The disc also includes the lesser-known 4th Concerto and a Rachmaninoff transcription of a Bach Partita. Listen for selections from this new release throughout this week on KDFC.
Daniil Trifonov: Destination Rachmaninov - Departure is KUSC: Los Angeles 'Album Of the Week'
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Deutsche Grammophon hosts first concert In Beijing's forbidden city since 98 / udiscovermusic.
Posted At : October 13, 2018 12:00 AM
Deutsche Grammophon today launched its 120th-anniversary celebrations in impressive style today, hosting a triumphant gala concert at Beijing's Forbidden City, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Globally renowned performers shared the power and beauty of classical music at this exceptional event, presented before the Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao, for an audience of 1,200 specially invited Chinese and international dignitaries. Maestro Long Yu and Daniil Trifonov led a multi-national cultural collaboration of Deutsche Grammophon artists in the most prominent high-profile live classical event for over three decades.
The DG120 gala concert at the Forbidden City marked the beginning of Deutsche Grammophon's year-long series of global events, new releases and revelatory exploration of its historic archives. It reached a vast global following via simultaneous live streams in YouTube's 360-degree virtual reality and regular formats.
READ THE FULL udiscovermusic. ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov, dreaming of Rachmaninov on a train / npr
Posted At : October 11, 2018 12:00 AM
Until recently, most classical music videos have been humdrum affairs. Musicians, in concert attire, earnestly produce their notes with eyes closed and heads tilted in a beatific expression, somewhere between a migraine and an attempt to channel Bach from the heavens. But with imagination, and a little cash, it's possible to shoot something more pleasing and exotic - like, for example, a Western by way of Rachmaninov. That's what folks at the Deutsche Grammophon label have done to promote their new release, Destination Rachmaninov – Departure, by pianist Daniil Trifonov.
READ THE FULL npr ARTICLE & WATCH THE VIDEO
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Do you have an all-time favorite recording of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini? / WRTI
Posted At : October 4, 2018 12:00 AM
It was the summer of 1934. At his villa in Switzerland near Lake Lucerne, Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 comprised of 24 variations. The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski, premiered the work in November, 1934 with Rachmaninoff himself as soloist in Baltimore. It was an immediate success. The Variation No. 18 is one of the most recognizable and beloved, and has shown up in several films over the years, including Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.
The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, played the work this past August at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. You'll hear a recording of the performance on WRTI, Sunday, October 7 at 1 pm and Monday, October 8 at 7 pm on WRTI HD-2.
LISTEN TO Daniil Trifonov play Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation No. 18 with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin & 9 OTHERS via WRTI: Philadelphia
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Daniil Trifonov & Yannick Nezet-Seguin introduce new DG recording: Destination Rachmaninov - Departure
Posted At : September 27, 2018 12:00 AM
As a teenager, Daniil Trifonov absorbed lessons from the recordings of Sergei Rachmaninov, lessons that fed the creative process of his latest Deutsche Grammophon project, Destination Rachmaninov – Departure, the first of two albums comprising Trifonov's cycle of the great Russian composer's piano concertos. Destination Rachmaninov – Departure, set for release on October 12, 2018, features Concertos Nos. 2 and 4, along with Rachmaninov's solo piano transcriptions of three movements from Bach's Violin Partita in E major. Together with its upcoming October 2019 sequel Destination Rachmaninov – Arrival, which contains Concertos Nos. 1 and 3, Trifonov's new album documents a journey of artistic exploration made in company with the Philadelphia Orchestra and its music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who have a special, historical connection to Rachmaninov. Rachmaninov first performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and its then Music Director Leopold Stokowski in 1913 as a soloist in his own Third Piano Concerto and returned many times as pianist and conductor before his death thirty years later.
Trifonov and Nezet-Seguin introduce the new Deutsche Grammophon project in the attached clip. Watch
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As a teenager Daniil Trifonov absorbed lessons from Rachmaninov and now releases; Departure
Posted At : August 31, 2018 12:00 AM
As a teenager Daniil Trifonov absorbed lessons from the recordings of Sergei Rachmaninov, lessons that fed the creative process of his latest Deutsche Grammophon project. Destination Rachmaninov – Departure is the first of two albums comprising Trifonov's cycle of the great Russian composer's piano concertos. Featuring Nos.2 and 4, along with Rachmaninov's solo piano transcriptions of three movements from Bach's Violin Partita in E major, the new recording is set for release on 12 October 2018. Together with the second album, Destination Rachmaninov – Arrival (to be released in October 2019), it documents a journey of artistic exploration, one made in company with the Philadelphia Orchestra and its music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Watch the attached video
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DG artists will curate Apple Music's Mozart, Bach and Beethoven channels / udiscovermusic.
Posted At : August 11, 2018 12:00 AM
Deutsche Grammophon and Apple Music have announced a new long-term collaboration designed to enhance the experience of classical music for a global music audience. Central to this new experience with Apple Music is ‘The DG Playlist' – a regularly updated classical musical experience to highlight the very best recordings from the iconic 120-year-old classical music label – and a selection of visual albums featuring legendary performances by DG superstar artists and special video performances from Daniil Trifonov and Ildar Abdrazakov. For the launch, artists Trifonov, Rolando Villazón and Peter Gregson will curate Apple Music's three main composer radio stations: Mozart, Bach and Beethoven, and Trifonov is the first classical performer to create an Apple Music Video Essential Playlist. Photo: Deutsche Grammophon Share On Flipboard
READ FULL udiscovermusic. ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov gets around the keyboard like a champ in Rach3 with SFSymphony / San Francisco Chronicle
Posted At : June 24, 2018 12:00 AM
Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto poses difficulties for performers on several levels. The piece is a challenge just from a technical perspective - there are, you know, a whole lot of notes to get right - but what's even harder is to make the piece sound like more than just a bristling array of fearsome scales and chords. Daniil Trifonov, the young Russian virtuoso who played the piece on Thursday, June 21, with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, had no trouble at all with the concerto's technical demands. He never does - Trifonov gets his fingers around a keyboard like a champ, with accuracy and bravura.
READ THE FULL San Francisco Chronicle ARTICLE
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Despite and perhaps because of its implausibility, Daniil Trifonov's Carnegie Hall recital was a triumph / The New York Times
Posted At : May 6, 2018 12:00 AM
Audiences are not used to seeing the pianist Daniil Trifonov sweat. Whatever intensity he brings to daunting pieces by Rachmaninoff or Liszt, he never appears pushed to his limits. Everything seems to come so easily.
That changed on Friday, when Mr. Trifonov performed the seventh and final program of his ambitious Perspectives series for Carnegie Hall, a recital called "Decades." The idea was to survey the 20th century by playing something from each decade - not short stopover pieces, but arduous, seminal works. He wanted, he said in an interview on Saturday, to dramatically show the "evolution of piano writing," which was "so rapid in the 20th century."
Mr. Trifonov, also a composer, does play his own works, full of Romantic fervor and Scriabin-like colorings. But Daniil doing Stockhausen?
Despite (and perhaps because of) its implausibility, the recital was a triumph. That it was clearly a herculean effort requiring tremendous mental focus and physical stamina - you could sometimes hear him breathing heavily - made it all the more impressive. I have seldom heard an artist put so much effort into a single concert.
READ THE FULL New York Times REVIEW
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Trifonov is extraordinary in his survey of 20th century piano / New York Classical Review
Posted At : May 5, 2018 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov's Carnegie Hall Perspectives Series came to an end a little after 10 p.m. Friday night, as the last of several ovations finally died down. It has been quite a season for him and for the audiences that have been able to hear the range and depth of artistry of this still-young pianist (he turned 27 in March), and it was fittingly capped by a concert that will live in memory as a high point in a lifetime's concert-going experience.
The concert was "Decades," Trifonov picking one work from each of the decades of the 20th Century, and playing them in chronological order, although the presentation came up a little short, as Thomas Adès' Traced Overhead, originally planned to represent the 1990s, was cut, leaving John Corigliano's 1985 Fantasia on an Ostinato as the conclusion.
READ THE FULL New York Classical Review
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Performance Santa Fe sponsors Daniil Trifonov in an intriguing program of 10 works covering each decade of the 20th century / Santa Fe New Mexican
Posted At : April 29, 2018 12:00 AM
The Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov gained attention by winning the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and quickly gained a spot among the A-list of the world's keyboard virtuosos. Performance Santa Fe sponsors him in an intriguing program of 10 works - one from each decade of the 20th century, beginning with Berg's Piano Sonata (composed in 1907-1908) and concluding with Thomas Adès' Traced Overhead (from 1996). Along the way, he visits pieces by Prokofiev, Bartók, Copland, Messiaen, Ligeti, Stockhausen, John Adams, and John Corigliano. The concert takes place on Tuesday, May 1, at the Lensic Performing Arts Center.
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SEE THE Santa Fe New Mexican PAGE
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Daniil Trifonov makes maybe 'the hardest piano piece ever written' look utterly effortless / CLASSIC fM
Posted At : April 18, 2018 12:00 AM
What's the hardest piano piece ever written? Liszt's Campanella? That's what many musicians believe. Written in 1851, Campanella comes from a larger piece – the Grandes études de Paganini and is famous for being one of the most difficult pieces ever written for piano. But no one seems to have told Daniil Trifonov. The nickname Campanella means 'little bell' – because the melody of the piece comes from Paganini's Second Violin Concerto, which features a handbell. The piece's technical difficulties include enormous jumps for the right hand played at a fast tempo.
Trifonov includes Campanella on his Transcendental album. WATCH THE CLASSIC fM VIDEO
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Daniil Trifonov and teacher - Sergei Babayan, duet at Zankell Hall / The New York Times
Posted At : March 2, 2018 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov and His Teacher Dazzle With Dual Virtuosity
NYT Critic's Pick
By JAMES R. OESTREICHMARCH 2, 2018
Daniil Trifonov, the 26-year-old Russian pianist, composer and budding superstar, has made intriguing choices for his Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall this season. Last month he proved a sympathetic yet strong collaborator with the baritone Matthias Goerne in Schubert's song cycle "Die Schöne Müllerin": The demeaning term "accompanist" never came to mind. But perhaps the most touching evening in the series came on Thursday at Zankell Hall, in a two-piano recital Mr. Trifonov shared with his teacher, Sergei Babayan.
Mr. Trifonov gave the lead to the Armenian-born Mr. Babayan, now an American citizen living in New York who maintains an active international performing career. It is certainly true that not every teacher could hope to hold his own technically in combination with a student as precious as Mr. Trifonov. But the firepower they achieved together is rare among piano duos.
PHOTO: Credit Pete Checchia
READ THE FULL New York Times ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov - Transcendental wins 2018 GRAMMY in 'Best Classical Instrumental Solo'
Posted At : January 28, 2018 12:00 AM
Tonight, the 60th annual Grammy Awards take place at New York's Madison Square Garden. Hosted by James Corden. JAY-Z, Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Lorde, and Childish Gambino lead this year's nominations.
Winners so far include - Daniil Trifonov for his Deutsche Grammophon recording - Transcendental. Trifonov is one of the few pianists to have recorded Liszt's concert Études in one concentrated period and the first to record them in full. He set down his visionary interpretations within the space of five days, a feat in keeping with the tireless energy and superhuman spirit of Liszt himself. Trifonov's approach to Liszt is informed by the legacy of the Russian school of piano playing in which he was raised and by his profound understanding of the composer's musical language. "Liszt's technical virtuosity is just a means to evoke extremes of emotion," observes Trifonov. "His daring harmonic and structural innovations revealed new horizons for emotional and psychological expression in music. His compositions can be described as dynamic depictions of the spiritual experiences of a Romantic soul."
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Daniil Trifonov plays NPR: tiny desk
Posted At : January 12, 2018 12:00 AM
When we invited Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov to play a Tiny Desk concert, we rolled out the big guns. In place of the trusty upright, we wedged a 7-foot grand piano behind Bob Boilen's desk in preparation for the artist who The Times of London called "without question the most astounding pianist of our age."
That's a pretty lofty claim, but watch and judge for yourself. His performance here is extraordinary. Still in his 20s, Trifonov seems to have it all: jaw-dropping technique and interpretive skills beyond his age. He's also a composer - the night before his NPR visit, he played his own knuckle-twisting piano concerto at the Kennedy Center here in Washington, D.C.
But for his Tiny Desk show, Trifonov focused on Chopin, beginning with the mercurial "Fantaisie-Impromptu" in C-sharp minor, a work that mixes sweeping melody, turbulent passion and wistful repose. Hunching close over the keyboard with feline agility, Trifonov's slender fingers glide effortlessly. He coaxes the instrument to sing tenderly in the slow central section.
Trifonov follows with a pair of short tributes to Chopin by his peers. Robert Schumann's "Chopin" accentuates the lyrical side of Chopin, filtered through the German composer's forward-looking harmonies, while Edvard Grieg's "Hommage à Chopin" offers volatility, lovingly rendered.
The smartly programmed set is capped with more Chopin, but with a nod to Mozart: the finale from a set of variations based on an aria from Don Giovanni. It gives Trifonov a chance to display his lightness of touch, plus a few pianistic fireworks. Smiling, he treats the tricky filigreed runs and hand crossings as if it were a child's game. Look closely and you can see the piano shake. Here's the Set List
Chopin: "Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66"
Schumann: "Chopin. Agitato" (from Carnaval)
Grieg: "Hommage à Chopin, Op. 73, No. 5"
Chopin: "Variations on 'Là ci darem la mano' (from Mozart's Don Giovanni) - Coda. Alla Polacca"
WATCH THE NPR: Tiny Desk SEGMENT
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Daniil Trifonov - Chopin Evocations is 90.5 WKAR: Classical New Release of the Month
Posted At : January 5, 2018 12:00 AM
Pianist Daniil Trifonov's latest Deutsche Grammophon album - Chopin Evocations captures the magic of Chopin's music and traces its influence through the works of five other composers. On this double-disc set, Trifonov performs Chopin's two piano concertos and a selection of some of his earliest and latest solo works as well as tributes to Chopin by Grieg, Mompou, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and Barber. This recording features world premiere recordings of new orchestrations of the Piano Concertos by Trifonov's fellow pianist-composer Mikhail Pletnev, who conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in these renditions.
On every last Friday of the month, Morning Edition and All Things Considered will feature a profile of a particular classical artist or ensemble's latest release - then WKAR: East Lansing MI will feature that recording throughout our monthly classical schedule as their 'Classical New Release of the Month.' We start our new series by showcasing one of the rising stars of the keyboard, pianist Daniil Trifonov.
LISTEN TO Peter Whorf's SEGMENT
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Daniil Trifonov - Chopin Evocations is KDFC: Album Of the Week
Posted At : October 29, 2017 12:00 AM
Pianist Daniil Trifonov's latest Deutsche Grammophon album captures the magic of Chopin's music and traces its influence through the works of five other composers. On this double-disc Chopin Evocations set, released on October 6, Trifonov performs Chopin's two piano concertos and a selection of some of his earliest and latest solo works as well as tributes to Chopin by Grieg, Mompou, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and Barber. This recording features world premiere recordings of new orchestrations of the Piano Concertos by Trifonov's fellow pianist-composer Mikhail Pletnev, who conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in these renditions.
Daniil Trifonov - Chopin Evocations is the KDFC: San Francisco - Album Of the Week
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Daniil Trifonov - Chopin Evocations is KUSC: Album Of the Week
Posted At : October 29, 2017 12:00 AM
Pianist Daniil Trifonov's latest Deutsche Grammophon album captures the magic of Chopin's music and traces its influence through the works of five other composers. On this double-disc Chopin Evocations set, released on October 6, Trifonov performs Chopin's two piano concertos and a selection of some of his earliest and latest solo works as well as tributes to Chopin by Grieg, Mompou, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and Barber. This recording features world premiere recordings of new orchestrations of the Piano Concertos by Trifonov's fellow pianist-composer Mikhail Pletnev, who conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in these renditions.
Daniil Trifonov - Chopin Evocations is the KUSC: Los Angeles - Album Of the Week
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Daniil Trifonov - Carnegie: Perspectives recital was fascinating / The New York Times
Posted At : October 29, 2017 12:00 AM
Through its coveted Perspectives program, Carnegie Hall invites outstanding artists to plan a season-long series of concerts. Most designees think big and go adventurous. At first glance it might seem that the Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov is playing it safe with his Perspectives series this season. Three of his seven programs are focused on Chopin, including the sold-out recital he played on Saturday to kick off the series, titled "Hommage à Chopin."
Actually, Mr. Trifonov's series looks wide-ranging and unusually rich, the Chopin concerts included. At 26, he has already proven not just one of the most spectacularly virtuosic pianists of the day but an uncommonly thoughtful artist. Saturday's recital was fascinating. PHOTO: Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times
READ THE FULL New York Times ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov, MCO:Pletnev - Chopin Evocations / WFMT 'Featured New Release'
Posted At : October 17, 2017 12:00 AM
Pianist Daniil Trifonov's latest album captures the magic of Chopin's music and traces its influence through the works of five other composers. On this double-disc set, Trifonov performs Chopin's two piano concertos and a selection of some of his earliest and latest solo works, as well as tributes to Chopin by Grieg, Mompou, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and Barber. The album features world-premiere recordings of new orchestrations of the piano concertos by Trifonov's fellow pianist-composer Mikhail Pletnev, who conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
WFMT: Chicago, Featured track for oct 17, 2017 is Chopin: Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, Op 21 (34:51). Daniil Trifonov, piano; Mahler Chamber Orchestra / Mikhail Pletnev
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Catch glimpses of Daniil Trifonov's fury in new Chopin Fantasy-Impromptu video / NPR
Posted At : October 4, 2017 12:00 AM
When Daniil Trifonov was 20, he scored a double victory, taking home top prizes at both the Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein International Piano Competitions. That was six years ago, and by now he has secured a spot as one of the most revered – perhaps even feared – classical pianists on the scene today.
Piano legend Martha Argerich has noted Trifonov's "demonic" side. Critic Alex Ross began a profile earlier this year with the sentence: "The Russian Pianist Daniil Trifonov creates a furor." And then there was his Kennedy Center recital in April, where I witnessed him pound a piano practically into matchsticks. His rendition of Schumann's Toccata - hands in a blur over the keyboard - was at a speed that must have rivaled nuclear fission.
You catch glimpses of that fury in this new video. The music, Chopin's Fantasy-Impromptu, Op. 66, calls for singing melodies and subtle shading with only brief episodes of thunder. As it turns out, Trifonov can do all of that too. He seems to have every known pianistic tool at hand, tapping into Chopin's stormy passions and stretching out the central, lyrical section with a shimmering, pearlescent tone. The video coincides with Chopin Evocations, Trifonov's new album, out Oct. 6 on Deutsche Grammophon, featuring concertos and solo pieces by Chopin, his contemporaries and younger composers under his spell.
WATCH THE VIDEO
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Daniil Trifonov receives the ECHO KLASSIK Award for Solo Recording (19th Century Music | Piano)
Posted At : July 27, 2017 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov receives the ECHO KLASSIK Award for Solo Recording (19th Century Music | Piano). The ECHO KLASSIK trophies will be handed out on Sunday, 29 October 2017 during a gala event in the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall in Hamburg. All of the artists receiving an ECHO KLASSIK this year have made outstanding contributions to Classical Music in the 2016/17 music year. Their performances have brought audiences closer to numerous works of traditional classical music, but also to so-called New Classics. Whether its brilliant solo artists, collaborating ensembles, global superstars or exciting young newcomers – each of these musicians has helped to foster the extraordinary diversity of classical music and ensured that it continues to reach and inspire people of all ages and social backgrounds on all possible distribution channels.
The ECHO KLASSIK Award ceremony will be held on 29th October in the Elbphilharmonie concert hall. The German public TV channel ZDF will broadcast the evening starting at 10 pm. Once again this year, popular television presenter Thomas Gottschalk will host the ECHO KLASSIK, marking the fourth time overall he acts as master of ceremonies for the event. The names of those award winners who will perform live that evening will be announced shortly.
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Trifonov glitters at Tanglewood / The Boston Musical Intelligencer
Posted At : July 19, 2017 12:00 AM
BSO music director Andris Nelsons led a modest, Baroque-flavored program at Tanglewood on Friday: Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin, Haydn's Symphony No. 83 (La poule), Thomas Adès's Three Studies from Couperin, and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21. It wasn't to everyone's taste. No one, however, had a bad word for the keyboard soloist, the Russian Daniil Trifonov, whose commanding performance of the Mozart and a Prokofiev encore sent all home happy.
Boston was graced this past season with two superb BSO performances of Mozart piano concertos: 92-year-old Menahem Pressler in No. 27 with Moritz Gnann and 71-year-old Radu Lupu in No. 24 with Nelsons. The 26-year-old Trifonov's traversal of No. 21 was on that level. The concerto begins with a stealthy march that suggests children at play, and when the second theme eventually appears, it is indeed a child's game. Trifonov approached the piece as if playing Schumann's Kinderszenen (which he had done two days earlier, in Ozawa Hall). He was self-possessed and also self-effacing; his tone pearly but not mushy, he established a firm bass without pounding and managed to sound thoughtful without slowing down. The playful second theme, integrated with the first, became chaste, especially in his exploration during the cadenza.
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The famous Andante was sumptuously bittersweet, emphasis on bitter. Trifonov was so calm, so patient, his tone so limpid, his phrasing so weighted, so inevitable, he could have been Dinu Lipatti. He was more animated in the final movement, although even there he started sotto voce before erupting into exuberance. There was one encore, equally animated, the mincing Gavotte from Prokofiev's Cinderella. READ THE FULL Boston Musical Intelligencer REVIEW
READ THE MassLive REVIEW
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Precocity, ferocity and velocity from Daniil Trifonov at Shriver Hall / The Baltimore Sun
Posted At : June 14, 2017 12:00 AM
With a startling demonstration of precocity, ferocity and velocity, 26-year-old Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov made his Baltimore recital debut Sunday evening for the Shriver Hall Concert Series. At the very least, he left no doubt about his formidable technique, which sounded as pristine at the end of an unusually long, demanding program as at the start. It's a rare and disarming thing to hear such unflappable command at the keyboard. At top speed - and Trifonov did a lot of wonderful speeding - he retained clarity of articulation. At top volume, he somehow managed to avoid brittle banging. But for all of the razzle-dazzle, which reached a peak in a sensational account of Stravinsky's Three Movements from "Petrouchka," what proved even more impressive was Trifonov's poetic instincts. For the most part, he never stinted on subtlety, making room for fine gradations in dynamics and warm phrase-molding. PHOTO: Michael Robinson Chávez / Los Angeles Times READ THE FULL Baltimore Sun REVIEW
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Philly Orchestra with Daniil Trifonov on Broad Street Review's mind
Posted At : April 12, 2017 12:00 AM
I attended last weekend's Philadelphia Orchestra concert with Daniil Trifonov on my mind. The young Russian, one of the most impressive of the new crop of concert pianists, deserves his well-earned reputation. But wait: What was this Mason Bates piece slyly tucked into the program between sections of Beethoven's The Creatures of Prometheus and intermission? Somehow, I hadn't noticed this work on a program led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and featuring several of my favorite composers: Beethoven, Liszt (Prometheus, Symphonic Poem No. 5), and Trifonov playing Mozart's "Jenamy" concerto. - Linda Holt
READ THE Broad Street Review
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Daniil Trifonov delights Orchestra Hall audience / Chicago Tribune
Posted At : March 28, 2017 12:00 AM
Piano recitals might take a lesson from the old-fashioned one Daniil Trifonov gave Sunday afternoon at Orchestra Hall. The event lasted nearly 40 minutes beyond the norm at the Symphony Center Presents Piano Series. The demands on technique were increasingly difficult. But the pianist's skill at sure-fire juxtaposition alternately lulled and roused the large audience. And given that the young artist - 26 this month - attracts on the basis of virtuosity, more of that was on display than anything elusive or searching. Such was the delight on this roller-coaster ride that passengers gave the operator four standing ovations, then decided on two more following encores. There could not have been a greater sign of customers getting their money's worth.
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Read Alan Artner's FULL Chicago Tribune REVIEW PHOTO: (Brian Jackson / Chicago Tribune)
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Daniil Trifonov elicits dazzling display of Rachmaninoff / The Austrailian
Posted At : March 3, 2017 12:00 AM
The reputation of young Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov has preceded him with the force of a tornado. Winner of the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, he's been acclaimed by Martha Argerich as "having everything and more" and lauded by critics Alex Ross and Norman Lebrecht. Having now heard him perform Rachmaninoff's youthful Piano Concerto No 1 (1892) with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, I can only agree with the superlative praise.
Trifonov has all the elements of a wunderkind virtuoso. He executed the relentless torrents of runs and figurations with extraordinary precision and dexterity and demonstrated exquisite lightness of touch in delicate filigree passagework. But if you listened more deeply, you soon realised that his timbre was remarkable. It's an astonishing mix of penetrating clarity and subtly coloured warmth. At times, he barely seemed to caress the piano's keys yet his sound always rang forth clear and true. Trifonov is in recital at Melbourne Recital Centre, March 14; and then with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, March 17, 18 and 20.
READ THE FULL Austrailian REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov set for SSO concerts in Melbourne and Perth / The Daily Telegraph
Posted At : March 1, 2017 12:00 AM
EACH generation produces an artist who stands head and shoulders above their contemporaries and leaves the critics and fans grasping for superlatives and reaching for history books to find comparisons. Such is the case with 25-year-old Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, who is making his Australian debut this month performing Sergei Rachmaninoff's first piano concerto with Sydney Symphony Orchestra and at concerts in Melbourne and Perth. You don't have to know anything about music to realise that he has something unique about him in his ability to communicate and touch you with his musicality. Others piano stars may be flashier showmen or more muscular grandstanders, but Trifonov submerges himself and his listener in the music, showing you its structure and poetry from the inside out.
READ THE FULL Daily Telegraph REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov set for Australian dates next month / The Sydney Morning Herald
Posted At : February 20, 2017 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov performs with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House on March 1, 3 & 4; at Sydney's City Recital Hall on March 6; with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra at Perth Concert Hall on March 10 & 11; at Melbourne Recital Centre on March 14 as part of the Great Performers Series; and with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Arts Centre Melbourne on March 17, 18 & 20.
The exciting young virtuoso, who tours Australia next month, also often records himself practising, so he can keep discovering new things in the music. "It gives a different perspective, a third-person perspective, which is a helpful way of noticing things you miss in the first person at the piano itself."
READ THE FULL The Sydney Morning Herald ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov dazzles with RLP at Symphony Hall, Birmingham / theguardian
Posted At : February 3, 2017 12:00 AM
Though it has never achieved anything approaching the popularity of its two predecessors, Rachmaninov's Fourth Piano Concerto has never lacked great interpreters, from the composer himself onwards. As his performance with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic showed so vividly at Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Thursday 2 February 2017, Daniil Trifonov is the latest to join a list that includes Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Trifonov is perhaps the most dazzling pianistic talent around today, yet never flaunts that brilliance. As almost all pianists do nowadays, he played Rachmaninov's final 1941 version of the Fourth Concerto, and one could almost take for granted the utter security of everything in the solo part, which twisted, darted and glittered with breathtaking agility. But he's an intelligent artist, too, who lets the music speak for itself when it needs to, so that the opening of the concerto's slow movement was all the more effective for being so beautifully matter of fact, without extra emotional loading. Photograph: Robbie Jack/Corbis via Getty Images
READ THE FULL guardian REVIEW
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WASO kicks off 2017 season with Daniil Trifonov / OUTinPerth
Posted At : January 26, 2017 12:00 AM
The West Australian Symphony Orchestra is kicking off it's 2017 season with a performance from Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, one of the most acclaimed young piano players in the world. Trifonov will join the West Australian Symphony Orchestra to play works by Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius alongside the world premiere of a new work by composer Lachlan Skipworth.
Trifonov first played with an orchestra when he was just eight years old, he lost one of his baby teeth during the performance. WASO's Principal Conductor Asher Fisch shared his excitement regarding Trifonov opening the orchestra's 2017 season. "I haven't encountered anyone like Trifonov in a very long time," Fisch said, "I had the privilege to conduct his winning performance for the Arthur Rubenstein Competition back in 2011. So we have a special connection, and I told him he should visit Perth and perform with WASO. What a spectacular way to begin our 2017 season!"
READ THE FULL OUTinPerth ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov plays intense concert at the Barbican / The Independent
Posted At : January 23, 2017 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov's, Barbican, London performance was one of the most gruelling pianistic programmes I've heard in a long time. The Russian superstar pianist, who was spotted buying some honey for energy in Tesco, just before his concert, didn't disappoint, even when it got to the encore.
He was just four minutes late when, immaculate in tails, he strode onstage to launch into one of the most gruelling pianistic programmes I've heard in a long time. First he gave a delicately poetic account of Schumann's Kinderszenen, before tearing full-pelt through the same composer's exuberant "Toccata in C major". Then it was down to serious business with Schumann's Kreisleriana. His second half began with five pieces from Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues – again deeply pondered – before exhibiting the requisite showmanship in his Stravinsky finale, Petrushka.
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READ THE FULL Independent ARTICLE
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Houston Public Media 'Symphony Broadcast' features Daniil Trifonov
Posted At : January 8, 2017 12:00 AM
The next Houston Symphony Broadcast features special guest solost Daniil Trifonov pounding the keys on a concerto by Robert Schumann, and a big finish from the orchestra and conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada in Rachmaninoff's return to the symphonic form! The soloist for this concert, Daniil Trifonov, is something of a wunderkind, having placed highly in several prestigious piano competitions by the age of 17, and now at the age of 25 is a widely sought after guest soloist across the world. He also premiered his own Piano Concerto in 2014, making him a kindred spirit to the pianist-composer in Robert Schumann.
READ FULL Houston Public Media ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov plays with stupefying effortlessness / The New Yorker
Posted At : January 2, 2017 12:00 AM
The Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov creates a furor. The term is a familiar one in the annals of super-virtuosity. "pianist creates furor" was a headline in the Times when Vladimir Horowitz first played at Carnegie Hall, in 1928. Paderewski left furor in his wake, as did Sviatoslav Richter, the young Martha Argerich, and the young Evgeny Kissin. Americans usually don't create a furor, at least on American soil. Russians are more prone to do so. It should be noted that a furor is not the same as a sensation. (Lang Lang creates a sensation.) Furor pianists exhibit intelligence as well as dexterity; they often make curious interpretive choices that cause head-shaking at intermission. They give a hint of the unearthly, the diabolical. They tend to walk onstage hurriedly and bashfully, with little ceremony, and usher in bedlam from unseen regions.
So far, Trifonov has done best in the high-virtuoso territory of Liszt, Scriabin, and Rachmaninoff. His latest recording, on Deutsche Grammophon, is of Liszt's Transcendental Études, Concert Études, and Paganini Études. The Transcendental Études contain some of the most taxing piano writing ever put on paper: jagged chords strewn all over the keyboard, everywhere-leaping arpeggiated figures, pages of double octaves. Trifonov dispatches all of it with stupefying effortlessness, in the process transforming this ostensibly bravura music into something elegant and rarefied, almost French. He suggests how much Debussy and Ravel owed to Liszt. This is not the final word on the Études: on the Myrios label you can find a recording by Kirill Gerstein, another major, younger Russian-born pianist, which has a stronger sense of musical architecture. Still, Trifonov's entry will long be a benchmark.
READ THE FULL New Yorker ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov - Transcendental / Washington Post review
Posted At : December 31, 2016 12:00 AM
Daunting. Formidable. Punishing. A supreme test of a pianist's technique and stamina. Liszt's "Transcendental Études" are indeed all of these things. But the rare genius of Daniil Trifonov's recording of these works, released in 2016, lies in the ability of this 25-year-old Russian phenomenon to remind us that Liszt was not merely a composer of virtuoso showpieces but a musical poet of the highest order.
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Unlike Chopin's pathbreaking studies for solo piano, Liszt's Études do not isolate specific technical problems. Instead, Liszt harnessed a dazzling array of innovations on the level of sheer sound - new colors, textures and sonorities - to create a cycle of tone poems for the piano that captures the breadth and intensity of the composer's imagination. The sheer range of musical expression is astonishing: pastoral reveries, woodland scenes, romantic arias, heroic dramas, historical legends and visions of spiritual strife.
READ THE FULL Washington Post REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov makes Liszt's Campanella sound and look utterly effortless / CLASSIC fm
Posted At : December 29, 2016 12:00 AM
Liszt's Campanella (or, to give it its proper name, the sixth of the Grandes études de Paganini) is famously one of the most difficult pieces ever written for piano. But no one seems to have told Daniil Trifonov. This performance of Daniil Trifonov - Campanella is one of the hardest piano pieces ever written is jaw-dropping. The nickname Campanella means 'little bell' – because the melody of the piece comes from Paganini's Second Violin Concerto, which features a handbell. Just watch this effortless performance on CLASSIC fm and weep at your inadequacy. Trifonov plays this piece, along with other great pieces for piano by Liszt on his new album, Transcendental.
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Daniil Trifonov's 'Carnegie recital' makes - New York Classical Review - Top 10 Performances for 2016
Posted At : December 22, 2016 12:00 AM
#2 is Daniil Trifonov's recital at Carnegie Hall - This was an astounding performance. Trifonov's sheer musical artistry, his touch, phrasing, articulation, and dynamics, are head and shoulders above every other pianist on the contemporary scene. That would be thrilling enough. Beyond that, his probing and poetic musical thinking, the way his playing sounds like the most logical way for the music to go while also being emotionally and aesthetically gripping, marks him with historic greatness. (GG) Photo: Stefan Cohen
SEE ALL REVIEWS ON New York Classical Review
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Daniil Trifonov's artistry provides historic piano night at Carnegie Hall / New York Classical Review
Posted At : December 8, 2016 12:00 AM
The combination of a Russian pianist, the music of Robert Schumann, and Carnegie Hall has produced historic moments in the 20th century record of classical music performances. Now in the 21st century, we have a new entry, Daniil Trifonov's recital on Wednesday night, a profoundly musical and expressive experience of music by Schumann, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky. With almost a decade's concertizing experience already behind him at age 25, Trifonov's career is still young enough that he is in the process of discovering the piano repertory and what he can do with it. And with the range and depth of his talent already, one can only guess at the possibilities to come.
READ THE FULL New York Classical Review
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Daniil Trifonov set for Carnegie Hall / New York Times
Posted At : December 6, 2016 12:00 AM
In 2011, when he was 20, the Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov took the top prize in two prestigious international piano competitions: the Arthur Rubinstein in Israel and the Tchaikovsky in Russia. Now 25, he continues to astonish audiences with his technically prodigious, insightful and imaginative playing. He comes to Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 7, with a rich and challenging recital program: Schumann's "Kinderszenen," Toccata and "Kreisleriana"; five of Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues; and Stravinsky's Three Movements from "Petrouchka."
Trifonov's new Deutsche Grammophon recording - Transcendental is the pianists visionary interpretations of Liszt's concert Études in one concentrated period, within the space of five days, "Liszt's technical virtuosity is just a means to evoke extremes of emotion," observes Trifonov. "His daring harmonic and structural innovations revealed new horizons for emotional and psychological expression in music. His compositions can be described as dynamic depictions of the spiritual experiences of a Romantic soul." PHOTO: Christopher Smith for The New York Times
SEE The New York Times PAGE
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Daniil Trifonov & KC Symphony prove impressive / Kansas City Star
Posted At : November 20, 2016 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov's avidly anticipated debut with the Kansas City Symphony, performing his own piano concerto, proved impressive. The entire program, conducted by Michael Stern, had a heartiness to it and Friday night's audience in Helzberg Hall responded to its jubilance and vitality with resounding applause. Works from virtuoso performer/composers contribute a considerable amount to the classical literature, with Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms prime examples, though the practice has fallen off in the latter part of the 20th century. Placing Trifonov's work between Beethoven's Overture to "Egmont" and Brahms' Symphony No. 2 emphasized this connection, especially since both Beethoven and Brahms were first recognized in their 20s for their pianistic abilities, but are remembered for their compositions.
READ THE FULL Kansas City Star ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov - Transcendental / PopMatters review
Posted At : November 9, 2016 12:00 AM
Franz Liszt was a piano superstar early in his life; by the time he was a teenager, he was considered to be one of the world's best musicians to ever take up the instrument, touring constantly and earning acclaim by combining skill with showmanship. It wasn't until much later that he became such a noteworthy composer. (Facts such as these are important to keep in mind when we are tempted to dismiss a classical music prodigy simply because they haven't "been around" or "lived the life" that such difficult music demands.)
Russian Pianist Daniil Trifonov's career has also enjoyed an early start, and judging by his double album Transcendental: Daniil Trifonov Plays Franz Liszt, no hubris is about to get in the way. A review of the prodigy's solo recital at Carnegie Hall seems to imply that Trifonov is in his comfort zone when performing Liszt. Considering that Liszt's "Édtudes" have the potential to put one's fingers in knots, Daniil Trifonov's rendition of the material is impressive.
READ THE FULL PopMatters REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov plays beyond his years / Houston Chronicle
Posted At : November 5, 2016 12:00 AM
On Thursday, Daniil Trifonov walked onto the stage with the Houston Symphony with a full beard - and gave a full-bearded performance. This was not some young hotshot but rather an artist beginning to find deeper, more mature ways to approach music beyond technical precocity. Trifonov is Gramophone's 2016 Artist of the Year and the winner of Tel Aviv's Rubinstein Competition, Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition and the Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Instrumental Soloist in Italy. This is what it's like to be a pianist or violinist in the musical meritocracy. There are champions like Trifonov, and then there are the rest. And those who emerge as the new names to watch tend to be virtuosic soloists - modern Franz Liszts such as Lang Lang who embody not just musicality but showmanship and celebrity. READ THE FULL Houston Chronicle REVIEW
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A conversation with Daniil Trifonov / Houston Public Media
Posted At : November 4, 2016 12:00 AM
Recently named Gramophone 2016 Artist of the Year, Russian piano virtuoso Daniil Trifonov stopped by Houston Public Media to talk with Catherine Lu about his upcoming performances of Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto with the Houston Symphony, and the making of Transcendental, his new CD of complete Liszt etudes for Deutsche Grammophon. Transcendental is a visionary interpretation, keeping with the tireless energy and superhuman spirit of Liszt himself. Trifonov's approach to Liszt is informed by the legacy of the Russian school of piano playing in which he was raised and by his profound understanding of the composer's musical language.
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Backstage with Andres - Trifonov plays Rachmaninoff / Houston Public Media
Posted At : November 3, 2016 12:00 AM
Go backstage with Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada and hear some of his personal insights on the Houston Symphony's next concert. On this insallment, Maestro Estrada chats with Houston Public Media's Catherine Lu about the Symphony's upcoming performances with the young Russian piano virtuoso, Daniil Trifonov, recently named Gramophone "Artist of the Year" 2016. Trifonov will be the soloist in Robert Schumann's passionate and poetic Piano Concerto. The Houston Symphony presents the program, Trifonov Plus Rachmaninoff, on Thursday, November 3, 8pm; Saturday, November 5, 8pm; and Sunday, November 6, 2:30pm at Jones Hall.
Trifonov's new Deutsche Grammophon CD of Liszt's concert Études is a visionary interpretations within the space of five days, a feat in keeping with the tireless energy and superhuman spirit of Liszt himself. "Liszt's technical virtuosity is just a means to evoke extremes of emotion," observes Trifonov. "His daring harmonic and structural innovations revealed new horizons for emotional and psychological expression in music. His compositions can be described as dynamic depictions of the spiritual experiences of a Romantic soul."
WATCH Houston Public Media VIDEO
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Transcendental: Daniil Trifonov Plays Liszt / WFMT: Featured Release
Posted At : October 26, 2016 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov is one of the few pianists to have recorded Liszt's concert Etudes in one concentrated period and the first to record them complete for Deutsche Grammophon. Trifonov's approach to Liszt is informed by the legacy of the Russian school of piano playing in which he was raised. "Liszt's technical virtuosity is just a means to evoke extremes of emotion," observes Trifonov. "His compositions can be described as dynamic depictions of the spiritual experiences of a Romantic soul."
Liszt: Transcendental Etudes: No 11, Harmonies du soir (9:29); No 12, Chasse-neige (5:52) from Transcendental: Trifonov Plays Liszt - Daniil Trifonov, piano is todays ( Wed. Oct. 26 ) WFMT: Chicago - Featured Release.
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Daniil Trifonov - Transcendental / Wall Street Journal review
Posted At : October 3, 2016 12:00 AM
For pianists, the 12 "Transcendental Études" by the 19th-century composer Franz Liszt remain among the most perilous compositions in the repertoire, particularly if played in their entirety rather than as isolated recital pieces. Totaling about 65 minutes in length, they are a veritable obstacle course for the performer, with tricky rhythms, hand-stretching chords, cascading or cresting chromatic lines at high-velocity speeds and the like. More significantly, these engrossing études, mainly musical evocations of nature and youthful escapades, require poetic insight as much as virtuoso fireworks.
Deutsche Grammophon has just released "Transcendental" by 25-year-old Daniil Trifonov. His two-disc set of all 23 piano études by Liszt also includes the justly beloved "Concert Études" and the taxing " Paganini Études"-a Lisztian Triple Crown, if you will, from a thoroughbred champion who won the Tchaikovsky and the Rubinstein international piano competitions at age 20. In 2014, when Mr. Trifonov performed all 12 "Transcendental Études" in Carnegie Hall's main auditorium-part of a tour that ultimately encompassed about 25 cities-he was only the fourth pianist do so in that institution's 125-year history.
READ THE FULL Wall Street Journal REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov wins the 2016 Gramophone - 'Artist of the Year' award
Posted At : September 15, 2016 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov wins the 2016 Gramophone - Artist of the Year Award, the only Award voted for by Gramophone's readers, seeing off competition from the likes of Sir Antonio Pappano, Jonas Kaufmann, Andris Nelsons, and indeed Igor Levit, to win the public vote. Trifonov's recording of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Corelli and Chopin Variations, and his ownRachmaniana affirmed Trifonov's place as one of the most exciting talents of an exceptional generation of young pianists, and was our Recording of the Month in the September 2015 issue.
SEE THE FULL Gramophone AWARDS PAGE
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Daniil Trifonov Q&A with theguardian
Posted At : September 4, 2016 12:00 AM
The Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, 25, born in Nizhny Novgorod, gave his first performance with an orchestra at the age of eight, losing a milk tooth mid-performance, and went to Moscow's famous Gnessin School of Music before moving to America to study. Five years ago, already widely heralded as the pianist of the future, he won both the Rubinstein and the Tchaikovsky piano competitions. Trifonov is the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No 21 in C major with the Staatskapelle Dresden and conductor Christian Thielemann at the Proms on Wednesday. His new disc of Liszt's complete concert Études is out next month.
READ THE guardian Q&A
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Today's Daniil Trifonov and friends concert makes ' the 5 things you need to know from - The Edinburgh Reporter'
Posted At : August 22, 2016 12:00 AM
Remarkable young Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov celebrates another side of his musical personality – as an eloquent chamber musician – in the last of his three performances at the 2016 International Festival. For those in Edinburgh Today - Monday August 22 at 11am, there is a concert at The Queen's Hall - Edinburgh featuring Daniil Trifonov and his friends. Daniil, Sergei Babayan, Gidon Kremer: violin, and Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė: cello will take you on a Rachmaninov journey with the Rach Suites Nos 1 & 2 for two pianos and the Trio élégiaque No 2 in D minor.
READ Hearld Scotland REVIEW
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A dazzling Edinburgh showcase for Daniil Trifonov / The Telegraph
Posted At : August 19, 2016 12:00 AM
Among many marvels of this recital was the chance to contemplate the beauty of Daniil Trifonov's hands. Most great pianists develop fat, muscular, bunch-of-banana fingers, but those of the prodigious 25-year-old Russian, inundated with superlatives since he took gold in the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011, are exquisitely long and slender. Given the fearsome work-out they must receive daily, this seems worthy of note – the instrumentalist's equivalent of a star ballerina's willowy legs.
The phenomenon was particularly evident in the first item on his programme: Brahms's one–hand arrangement of the Chaconne from Bach's D minor violin Partita. As Trifonov's left engine did Trojan work on the keyboard, his right rested elegantly on his thigh, as if quietly waiting its turn. But there was no sense of confinement: five fingers were enough to make majestic musical architecture, building a grand arch across the piece, as Bach's noble baroque austerity met Brahms's enriched classical sensibility.
READ THE FULL Telegraph REVIEW
READ THE EdinburghGuide.com REVIEW
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Ahead of a BBC Proms appearance Daniil Trifonov Interviews with Financial Times
Posted At : August 19, 2016 12:00 AM
Onstage he comes across like a veteran: someone who never fails to hypnotise his audience, who unearths more colours in one bar than many pianists find in an entire piece. Five years on from winning the Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein International Piano competitions back to back, Daniil Trifonov, 25, plays like someone twice his age.
So the conversation turns to his next UK appearance: a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 21 in C major with the Staatskapelle Dresden and conductor Christian Thielemann at the BBC Proms on September 7. To some, it may seem an interesting choice of repertoire for Trifonov, whose fire-throwing musical temperament is arguably at odds with classical restraint. And he is quick to comment on the challenges of playing Mozart: "You are completely naked in this music; there is so much transparency and it is very easy to notice when something emotionally fake happens."
READ THE Financial Times INTERVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov's return to Edinburgh gets 5 stars from theguardian
Posted At : August 18, 2016 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov plays Usher Hall, Edinburgh on 19 August.
5 stars - An immense programme of Brahms, Liszt and Rachmaninov showcased Trifonov's technical prowess, but nothing was mannered or bombastic here were moments when Daniil Trifonov's forehead almost hit the keyboard and times when he launched himself right off the piano stool – which might sound like showmanship from the wunderkind of old-school Russian powerhouse pianism, but nothing was mannered or bombastic in this recital. At 25, Trifonov is still the blaze of fearless, joyous virtuosity he was when he first played Edinburgh four years ago, but what's so exciting to witness is how he increasingly channels all that technical prowess into making softer, rather than louder, sounds. It's as though the flashy stuff comes so easily that he's far more interested in finding ways to make the piano sing or whisper or melt into liquid.
Daniil Trifonov plays Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 19 August; Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, 22 August; and the Proms, London, 7 September.
READ THE FULL guardian ARTICLE
READ The Times ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov nominated for 'Gramophone - Artist of the Year'
Posted At : June 28, 2016 12:00 AM
Once again in 2016, Gramophone is inviting its readers and visitors to its website to vote for its new 'Artist of the Year.' From a shortlist of 10, drawn up by the magazine's editors, readers are invited to vote and this year's list now contains two conductors, a couple of singers, three pianists and three violinists. The list also includes - pianist Daniil Trifonov.
Writing about Trifonov's nomination, Gramophone wrote: "A true star in the making, Trifonov gave us a disc of Rachmaninov variations, combining solo and concertante pieces, including a piece by himself, demonstrating yet another facet in this superb musician's art." Highlights in the UK for Trifonov last year included performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, at the Edinburgh International Festival, and the complete Rachmaninov Piano Concerti with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in April, May and October 2015. This year, he undertook a residency at the Wigmore Hall in February and June, and in August he returns to the Edinburgh International Festival for a residency of three concerts: a concerto, solo recital and chamber concert.
Gramophone Artist of the Year 2016 voting is open to the public and runs until 31 July and the winner will be revealed at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards on 15 September, 2016. Click here to cast your vote.
SEE intermusica PAGE
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Sarah's Music: Talking pianos with Daniil Trifonov / Deutsche Welle
Posted At : March 4, 2016 12:00 AM
The Russian star pianist Daniil Trifonov is one of today´s greatest musicians. Sarah meets him in Hamburg, finds out how he chooses a piano for important concerts and is thrilled to hear him live for the first time. Trifonov's latest recording for Deutsche Grammophon pays homage to his musical idol, Sergei Rachmaninov, as the 24-year-old Russian artist connects with the soul and spirit of his fellow countryman's art.
WATCH THE Deutsche Welle VIDEO
SEE THE MSN.com PAGE
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Daniil Trifonov captivates full house for La Jolla Music Society recital / San Diego Union - Tribune
Posted At : March 1, 2016 12:00 AM
No one wanted to break the musical spells that Daniil Trifonov cast in Sherwood Auditorium on Sunday evening. In a La Jolla Music Society recital devoted to virtuosic variations and expansive sonatas, the young pianist captivated a full house with his seemingly superhuman technique and intuitively poetic interpretations. Who would dare intrude on his pianissimos, so delicate their beginnings were imperceptible, tones appearing out of nowhere? What brazen clod would interrupt the timing of his phrasing or tromp on his smooth and liquid arpeggiations? Who could have the effrontery to encroach on one of his pauses after it had been set up so exquisitely in the preceding notes?
READ THE FULL San Diego Union - Tribune REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov creates a sensation in Disney Hall debut / Los Angeles Times
Posted At : February 29, 2016 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov is an astonishing pianist. Many have already predicted greatness for this pianist who will turn 25 on March 5. His recordings are bestsellers, and he has been the subject of documentaries. His Walt Disney Concert Hall recital debut Friday was one of the season's most eagerly anticipated events and offered an evening of unforgettable playing. Martha Argerich, who was on the Chopin jury that passed over Trifonov, has become one of his most ardent champions.
Trifonov who took first place in the Rubinstein competition in Tel Aviv and the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 2011, made his 2013 Carnegie Hall recital ( recorded by DG!), which galvanized the piano world. The New York Philharmonic built a Rachmaninoff festival around Trifonov late last year. L.A. almost feels late to the game (although he has appeared at the Hollywood Bowl and at Disney Hall with violinist Gidon Kremer). READ THE FULL Los Angeles Times ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov's 'Rachmaninov Variations' Makes Iowa Public Radio's 2015 Mega-Meta-List
Posted At : January 15, 2016 12:00 AM
Today's output of classical albums is (pardon me while I scribble on the back of an envelope) something like triple what it was a generation ago. I won't vouch for that exact ratio, but I will for Anne Midgette's description of how it feels: "Keeping up with the stream of new releases is like trying to drink from a fire hose." Now imagine trying to capture a hose's jet-spray in a bucket, and you'll see why making a classical "best-of-year" list in 2015 struck many writers as a thankless task, even a hopeless one. Yet that didn't stop more of us than ever from trying - perhaps enough of us to be called a crowd. Could that crowd, taken together, have some kind of collective wisdom?
That was more or less the premise behind my "Classical Mega-Meta-List" last year (inspired by economist /blogger Tyler Cowen). I tallied every "best of year" list I could find - a total of 36, comprising about 100 writers. This year I found far more: 64 lists, with at least 160 contributors, which makes this year's meta-list 60-77% more mega. It's not surprising that almost twice as many releases made the final cut, defined by being chosen for more than three best-of-year lists. Last year, 28 albums reached that threshold; this year, 50 albums did. That's a 78% increase.
Daniil Trifonov's 'Rachmaninov Variations' received more than 12 votes in this pole.
The other Russian-born pianist in the Top Five, Daniil Trifonov, is getting a doctorate in composition in Cleveland. To this recording of the complete variations by Rachmaninoff, he adds a composition of his own,Rachmaniana, making him one of several artists on the list who is breaking down the strict division between specializing in composing and specializing in performing. (That division didn't exist in Mozart's day, and Rachmaninoff was equally renowned in both spheres, as few artists were to be in the later 20th century.) As for the performing here, Trifonov is one of those magicians who can make the piano sound like it's coming from a transcendent sphere, but he is also a fluent musical thinker who conveys the play of Rachmaninoff's imagination. It's a great recording, and the Philadelphia Orchestra is an example of an American orchestral renaissance.
READ THE FULL IOWA PUBLIC RADIO PAGE
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Daniil Trifonov & Philadelphia Orchestra - GRAMMY Nom for Rachmaninov Variations / WRTI
Posted At : December 8, 2015 12:00 AM
Among the works Sergei Rachmaninov promoted were his variations on themes of other composers. The Philadelphia Orchestra - and the bright, new star Daniil Trifonov - are shining a new light on a popular piece as well as lesser-known works in the genre. Trifonov's latest recording for Deutsche Grammophon, released on August 28, 2015, pays homage to his musical idol, Sergei Rachmaninov, as the 24-year-old Russian artist connects with the soul and spirit of his fellow countryman's art.
Listen to Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin talk with WRTI: Philadelphia Susan Lewis about the Orchestra's recent recording, Rachmaninov Variations, which has just earned a GRAMMY Award nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.
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Newly elected NY Phil board member Daniil Trifonov plays sold out David Geffen Hall / New York Times
Posted At : November 27, 2015 12:00 AM
Not every new board member of the New York Philharmonic gets to celebrate his or her ascendance by playing Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto to a full house at David Geffen Hall. And thank goodness for that. Yet scarcely had the orchestra announced on Tuesday that the 24-year-old Russian virtuoso Daniil Trifonov, elected on Nov. 13, would join the board, than Mr. Trifonov took the stage for a blistering account of Rachmaninoff's ultimate pianistic challenge. This program, which also included that composer's great "Symphonic Dances," is the last in the Philharmonic's three-week Rachmaninoff festival, mounted largely to give Mr. Trifonov "a significant chunk of real estate," as Alan Gilbert, the orchestra's music director, says on its website.
Mr. Gilbert adds, of Mr. Trifonov's risk-taking: "You feel like you're almost going off the rails, but he totally knows what he's doing."
READ THE FULL New York Times REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov & Philadelphia Orchestra: Rachmaninoff in Concert / WRTI
Posted At : November 24, 2015 12:00 AM
Listen to The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcast on WRTI, this Sunday, November 29th, 2015 at 1 pm, to hear pianist Daniil Trifonov and The Philadelphians perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 4. This is the first broadcast in the Orchestra's 2015/2016 season. Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 4 is not very well known in America. But it has a strong connection with The Philadelphia Orchestra, which continues to mine the richness of the work.
WRTI: Philadelphia - Susan Lewis has more. LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT
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Daniil Trifonov comes to the New York Philharmonic / Vanity Fair
Posted At : November 11, 2015 12:00 AM
The New York Philharmonic is devoting the last half of November to the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943), and the star chosen for this special festival is Daniil Trifonov, the 24-year-old, Russian pianist-composer who sprang to international recognition in 2011, when he won both the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition, in Moscow, and first prize at the Rubinstein Competition, in Tel Aviv. Since then, he has been a guest artist with most of the leading orchestras in America and Europe; the Deutsche Grammophon recording of his 2014 Carnegie Hall recital was nominated for a Grammy; and his virtuosic technique has been compared routinely with that of Vladimir Horowitz and Franz Liszt.
READ THE FULL Vanity Fair ARTICLE
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WATCH - Daniil Trifonov's Tribute to Rachmaninov tonight on medici.tv
Posted At : November 9, 2015 12:00 AM
Since winning the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011, Daniil Trifonov has become a piano star and has travelled the world as recitalist and concerto soloist. On the night of November 9, on the eve of a series of performances with the New York Philharmonic surveying Rachmaninov's works for piano and orchestra, he performs an intimate concert at The Greene Space at WQXR...
For the first part of this concert, Trifonov will join forces with renowned pianist Sergei Babayan, who is also his teacher. During the second half of the program, he will play his own Rachmaninov-inspired composition, Rachmaniana, recently released on the Deutsche Grammophon label. This five-movement piece is a tribute to the Russian composer. It is a work for solo piano, rich in virtuosity and lyricism.
Live from New York City Later Monday 9 November at 7p watch Daniil Trifonov, Tribute to Rachmaninov (with Sergei Babayan) on medici.tv
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Daniil Trifonov set for 'Greene Space' recital hosted by WQXR
Posted At : October 31, 2015 12:00 AM
In advance of his Rachmaninoff Festival performances with the New York Philharmonic, pianist extraordinaire Daniil Trifonov heads downtown to The Greene Space for a recital of some of the composer's more intimate piano repertoire. WQXR: New York - Annie Bergen hosts.
The International Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medal-winner will be joined by esteemed pianist Sergei Babayan (Artist-in-Residence, Cleveland Institute of Music; Juilliard Professor; and Trifonov's teacher), for a rare performance of Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos, Op. 17. The program also includes Trifonov solo in his own Rachmaninoff-inspired composition, Rachmaniana, recently released by his record label Deutsche Grammophon.
Since winning the Tchaikovsky Competition, Trifonov has travelled the world as recitalist and concerto soloist. His list of credits include debut recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the Berlin Philharmonie, and appearances with the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among many others.
"Mr. Trifonov has scintillating technique and a virtuosic flair," noted The New York Times. "He is also a thoughtful artist . . . [who] can play with soft-spoken delicacy, not what you associate with competition conquerors."
British commentator Norman Lebrecht called Trifonov, "a pianist for the rest of our lives." Lebrecht continued, "This is a major artist, phenomenally gifted and almost fully formed, with fresh ideas and a winning stage presence that is quite irresistible from the moment he bounds through the door and sits at the keyboard, unable to contain his need to share."
Mr. Trifonov's November 12 performance with the New York Philharmonic will also be broadcast live by WQXR at 105.9 FM and streamed online at wqxr.org
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New Classical Tracks - Daniil Trifonov: a remarkable tribute to Rachmaninov
Posted At : October 28, 2015 12:00 AM
New Classical Tracks is a Syndicated Feature airing Nationally on Classical 24 & Statewide on Minnesota Public Radio. Listen to Julie Amacher's Feature with Daniil Trifonov.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT - Last month when Yannick Nézet-Séguin led the Philadelphia Orchestra in a massive outdoor Papal mass, he fulfilled a lifetime dream - well, sort of. "Before I wanted to become a conductor, I wanted to become the pope," Yannick declares. "That was my first dream as a child. So now I have the impression that it's coming almost full circle. I'm a conductor but conducting for the pope. And so that was something obviously very special for me but especially for all the musicians of the orchestra and being part of that extraordinary moment of peace and of unity and especially because of the message of this particular pope - so yes it was a great honor."
A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin has certainly had his share of honors, including three honorary doctorates. He's a notable opera conductor and has regular engagements with the Metropolitan Opera. He's also the artistic director and principal conductor of the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra and music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Earlier this month, he launched his fourth season as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra with music of Rachmaninov, featuring a riveting young Russian pianist, Daniil Trifonov.
Trifonov, who was awarded the First Prize, Gold Medal and Grand Prix at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011, is also featured on a new recording celebrating Sergei Rachmaninoff, a Russian composer who had a longtime affiliation with the Philadelphia Orchestra. "Oh, it's one of the most magical definitely aspects of - and perks even - of being the music director of this wonderful ensemble," says Yannick Nézet-Séguin. "Whenever we perform Rachmaninov together - we did the complete symphonies last year; the concertos, we almost did them all so far, even in just the few years that I've been the music director. And each time I marvel that there's this understanding of this music which is … due to the fact that actually the people from generation to generation were communicating their own knowledge of having worked with the master himself. And not only this - I think one important aspect of the story here is that Rachmaninov himself was in love with the sound of the orchestra at that time. And I believe that the sound is not really that different nowadays, and we're trying to cultivate the richness of that sound and all of the colors inside of it. And that means that it's a very special feeling whenever we start playing this music."
This new recording features variations Rachmaninov composed based on works by other composers. His most famous set of variations is the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which was written for and first recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934, with Leopold Stokowski at the podium. Yannick explains how he and Danill approached this new recording of the Rhapsody: "It was very important for Daniil and I to have all the very small details and the interplay between the orchestra and the piano really apparent and coherent and very chamber-music-like because there's relatively few long lines and melodies in this piece. It's all about the micro events until we get to the famous 18th variation, where everything becomes this incredible melody. But up to that point, I think the vivacity of the playing is just to reflect the vivacity of the writing. and hopefully this is what the people will get from listening to it."
"Daniil is … a genius," Yannick continues. "Quite simply. But in the Rachmaninov, there is a feeling when he sits at the piano and starts playing that we are in the presence of Rachmaninoff himself. Now, it's hard to explain. Some people explain it because [Rachmaninoff] was born in Russia and then was very quickly abroad and felt maybe the nostalgia of living in the U.S. and being nostalgic about his home country. I think nowadays the world is very, very different than in Rachmaninov's time. And I think it's not only this that can explain his special feeling. But [Trifonov] has the complete vocabulary of the music which is not only the virtuosity and the power but also the most delicate moments, almost like a feather. And when we listen to Rachmaninov's own recordings - it's striking, all that contrast he has in his playing, and think Daniil is the same. And that was just … I felt a really, really great match with my orchestra."
As you listen to this new Rachmaninov recording, you'll quickly get the sense that this Great Russian composer had a gift for taking another composer's theme and making it his own. Yannick agrees. "I have to say that listening to the recording as a whole - this is what I had in my mind," he says. "I'm just thinking all of a sudden, 'Oh, yes. This is one of those composers who could really take one idea and transform it endlessly.' But also - maybe my favorite moment of the recording … it's not that it's not the Paganini Variations where I'm participating … but in the rest of the recording, the solo portion. I think the Chopin variations are especially beautiful and touching. And it takes already a very simple yet absolute masterpiece from Chopin and brings it to even greater or more detailed, finer layers of emotional feelings and context. And I think this is really a remarkable tribute to the genius of Rachmaninov."
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Daniil Trifonov plays magical, poetic Rachmaninov in final Royal Festival Hall concert / theguardian
Posted At : October 17, 2015 12:00 AM
For the final instalment in his Royal Festival Hall cycle of Rachmaninov's piano concertos, Daniil Trifonov turned to the most popular of the series, the second, with Jakub Hrůša conducting the Philharmonia.
For much of the performance – at least until the superabundant energy and weight required of him in the last movement – the pianist remained a still and imposing presence at the keyboard. However, he was on impressively firm and authoritative form throughout, summoning up a richness and depth of sonority that matched Rachmaninov's grandeur of gesture and combining this with a nigh-on flawless realisation of the concerto's exceptionally virtuosic demands.
Hrůša and the Philharmonia players skilfully supported the soloist's expressive aims in an interpretation that felt deliberate and considered rather than gushing. Trifonov addressed Rachmaninov's refulgent melodic lines with imaginative creativity, giving each a characteristic shape – even if occasionally overemphasising something essentially accompanimental. The vivid scale of the playing, together with its wide and artistically purposeful dynamic range, were commanding, and achieved without any feeling of excess. READ THE FULL guardian REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov shows it all@Royal Festival Hall / theguardian
Posted At : October 11, 2015 12:00 AM
From agile thoroughbred to bucking bronco, gawky puppet to noble athlete, careworn sage to innocent child, Daniil Trifonov's playing has it all. The young Russian superstar pianist – not another of those you might think, eyes rolling – played to a packed Royal Festival Hall on Thursday as soloist in the Philharmonia Orchestra's series of Rachmaninov's works for piano and orchestra. It was my first encounter with him live. He is, no other word, a phenomenon. Like Rachmaninov, he is both a dazzling pianist and a composer. Born in 1991 in Nizhniy Novgorod, he gave his first concert at eight, apparently losing one of his baby teeth mid-performance. At 24, a multiple international prize-winner, he leaves you struggling for superlatives.
READ THE FULL guardian REVIEW
READ THE Financial Times ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov Kicks Off New Season for S.F. Symphony
Posted At : September 30, 2015 12:00 AM
Refreshed from the summer break and inspired by an exhilarating European tour, the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas opened their new concert season on September 25 at Davies' Symphony Hall with a wonderful blend of brilliant and virtuosic playing, crowd-pleasing and spectacular repertoire, and lots of ear candy.
Much of that can be scored up to the soloist alone, Russian concert pianist Daniil Trifonov. His delivery of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Opus 21 was absolutely astonishing, but the intensity and energy of his performance were certainly matched throughout the evening by MTT and his musicians - including a number of hired hands, given the orchestral forces required for Ottorino Respighi's Feste Romane (Roman Festivals). READ THE FULL San Francisco Classical Voice ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov channels Rachmaninoff / Washington Post
Posted At : September 25, 2015 12:00 AM
Rachmaninoff's two variation sets, on themes by Corelli and Chopin, are not his most inspired creations. But because there is relatively little Rachmaninoff to choose from, pianists keep pulling them out, hoping to deliver performances so personal and pianistically refined that they will sound, well, like good Rachmaninoff. They rarely succeed.
The Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov and his producers at Deutsche Grammophon had the curious idea of juxtaposing both these works and the "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," with the Philadelphia Orchestra under its exciting young conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Trifonov as soloist. The Paganini rhapsody, originally conceived as a ballet, is not a rhapsody in any Lisztian sense, but another set of variations, this time on the ubiquitous tune of Paganini's 24th solo violin caprice.
This new recording suggests that the Philadelphians' unique connection with Rachmaninoff is alive and well under Nezét Séguin's dynamic baton. They are the perfect collaborators for Trifonov's crystalline, sensitive piano playing. But despite the flawless execution, some dimension seems missing. READ THE FULL Washington Post REVIEW
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Rachmaninov: Variations - Trifonov's joyous, exceptional collection / theguardian
Posted At : September 17, 2015 12:00 AM
After hearing a bit too much dutiful Rachmaninov playing at the Leeds international piano competition last weekend, Daniil Trifonov's disc provided the best possible antidote. Here is an outstanding pianist who plays Rachmaninov because he is fascinated by the music and can bring genuine imagination and musical wit to it. Trifonov signals his deep admiration by including a piece of his own: the five miniatures that make up his glittering Rachmaniana are an homage to the pianistic tradition that reached its late-Romantic zenith in Rachmaninov and a celebration of the Russianness of that music.
The authentic works are the Paganini Rhapsody, in which the large-than-life sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin provide the perfect foil to Trifonov's thoughtful and sometimes surprisingly introspective playing, and the two sets of solo variations, on themes by Chopin, Op 22, and Corelli, Op 42. Both receive dazzling performances, showing why Trifonov, when at his best like this, is peerless among younger pianists today. There's emotional weight and structural integrity about the Chopin set, and all the panache and bravura anyone could want in the Corelli. It's a joyous, exceptional collection.
SEE THE guardian PAGE
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Daniil Trifonov - Rachmaninoff Variations / Sinfini Music Album Of the Week
Posted At : August 31, 2015 12:00 AM
The enigma that is Daniil Trifonov is concealed behind ten doors and an impervious exterior. The most impressive pianist of his generation, still only 24, he gives little away on stage and less still in media interviews, where he knows that a flimsy anecdote will suffice to deflect attention. A documentary DVD by Christopher Nupen, out this week, flatters to deceive. A new DG album, presenting Trifonov both with orchestra and on his own, illuminates the difficulties in cracking the enigma.
Most pianists are brought out of their shell by engagement with a massed band. Not Trifonov. From his first entry in Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini he seems to shrink from the enticements of the Philadelphia Orchestra and its music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The more winningly they play, the more Trifonov retreats into a monkish bunker of Rachmaninov-like exile, refusing the bait of relationship. Only in the solo passages of the 16th and 19th variations does he sound wholly in zone. READ THE FULL Sinfini REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov - Rachmaninoff Variations / WFMT: New Release Of the Week
Posted At : August 23, 2015 12:00 AM
One of today's most popular and critically-acclaimed pianists, Daniil Trifonov presents an album of variations by Rachmaninoff. It includes performances of the solo works Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Variations on a Theme of Chopin and Trifonov's own Rachmaniana. Also included is the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for which Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra join.
Daniil Trifonov's Rachmaninoff: Variations on Deutsche Grammophon is the WFMT: Chicago - NEW RELEASE OF THE WEEK. Featured track is - Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op 43 (24:56)
Daniil Trifonov, piano; Philadelphia Orchestra / Yannick Nézet-Séguin
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Daniil Trifonov set to play Rach3 with National Symphony / Washington Post
Posted At : April 2, 2015 12:00 AM
When Daniil Trifonov made it to the final round of the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, he had a tough choice to make. Like several of his competitors, Trifonov had been practicing Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, a piece known for wowing judges with its bombastic difficulty. At the last minute, however, he opted to play an understated Chopin concerto instead, and his thoughtful performance won first place.
What triggered the change of heart?
"I felt that I needed a bit more experience with other Rachmaninoff music before I could understand his third concerto," he says. "Everything has its time."
That time is now. Trifonov, 24, is playing the legendary "Rach 3" in major concert halls worldwide, including three performances with the National Symphony Orchestra this weekend at the Kennedy Center.
READ THE FULL Washington Post ARTICLE
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Daniil Trifonov joins The Dallas Symphony for Rachmaninoff PC#1 / TheatreJones
Posted At : March 31, 2015 12:00 AM
The Dallas Symphony delighted audiences Thursday night with its performance of Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. This "dramatic symphony" is an easy crowd-pleaser, to be sure, with its programmatic description of a blissful opium dream that turns into a very bad trip indeed.
The first half of the program featured Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor, with 24-year-old Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov at the keyboard. This concerto is less frequently performed than Rachmaninoff's two later concerti or his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Trifonov skillfully outlined and interpreted the concerto's many assets, from his crisp staccato in the first movement to his lyrically shaped phrases in the second to his muscular playing in the third movement Allegro vivace. Trifonov provided listeners outstanding playing from a bold young musical voice. READ THE FULL TheatreJones REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov plays Celebrity Series / Boston Classical Review
Posted At : March 16, 2015 12:00 AM
The lasting impression one takes away from a piano recital by Daniil Trifonov is of a young man looking perfectly serene, even lost in thought, as he executes the most stupefyingly difficult passages on his instrument. The Russian pianist, who turned 24 last week, appeared to be in the zone Friday night at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall as he mused and surged his way through all twelve of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, in their final (and simplified, if you can believe it) version of 1851.
He warmed up for this feat with a first half consisting of the Bach-Liszt Fantasy and Fugue in G minor and Beethoven's last piano sonata, Op. 111 in C minor. Clearly, this young man meant business. The recital, presented by Celebrity Series of Boston, began a little stiffly, as Bach's wildly chromatic fantasy never quite caught fire. Originally for organ, this music sounded brittle rather than sonorous on the American-made Steinway piano with which Trifonov began the program. (By prior arrangement, a German Steinway was brought in at intermission, because the artist preferred it for the Liszt.)
READ THE FULL Boston Classical Review
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Daniil Trifonov plays Celebrity Series / Boston Music Intelligencer review
Posted At : March 15, 2015 12:00 AM
A large and enthusiastic crowd greeted Daniil Trifonov's arrival on Jordan Hall's stage Friday night for the Celebrity Series of Boston. Trifonov is a "virtuoso pianist" in the grand tradition of virtuoso piano players. He is also a big pianist, as in a big technique, big gestures, and big sound. Trifonov also has large hands and long fingers (as did Liszt, a feature that was often remarked upon by other pianists, with some jealousy). With such tools Trifonov is able to tell an audience: "look, this music is very hard…but don't worry. I am able to make it sound easy." That he did. Moreover, taking Trifonov's programming decisions as an indication, there is a keen intelligence directing those fingers. READ THE FULL Boston Music Intelligencer REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov - The Carnegie Recital / WQXR: Album Of the Week
Posted At : February 2, 2015 12:00 AM
The young Russian Daniil Trifonov is the piano man of the moment, having given a virtual residency in New York this season with performances at all of the major halls. This recording documents his debut recital on the main stage of Carnegie Hall in February. Particularly effective are Scriabin's Second Sonata (Sonata-Fantasy), Chopin's Preludes Op. 28 and Liszt's Sonata in B minor. Listen to Trifonov's most recent Carnegie Hall recital.
Daniil Trifonov - The Carnegie Recital on Deutsche Grammophon is the WQXR: New York - Album Of the Week
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Daniil Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital / Audiophile Audition review
Posted At : January 24, 2015 12:00 AM
Appearing on the stage of Carnegie Hall (5 February 2013) Russian piano phenomenon Daniil Trifonov (b. 1991) confirms his penchant for the grand Romantic repertory in works of Scriabin, Liszt, and Chopin. Himself an auditor of the classic recordings by luminaries Cortot, Horowitz, and Sofronitsky, Trifonov has consciously emulated their startling combination of technical facility and poetic temperament, the application of faculties simultaneously tender and demonic. Program includes:
Trifonov at Carnegie Hall = SCRIABIN: Piano Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp Minor, Op. 28 "Sonata-Fantasy"; LISZT: Piano Sonata in B Minor; CHOPIN: 24 Preludes, Op. 28; MEDTNER: Fairy Tale in E-flat Major, Op. 26, No. 2 – Daniil Trifonov, piano – DGG 479 1728, (1/28/15) 78:48 [Distr. by Universal] *****:
READ THE FULL Audiophile Audition REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov receives 2015 GRAMMY Nomination for - The Carnegie Recital
Posted At : December 8, 2014 12:00 AM
On Friday the 57th Annual Grammy Awards revealed it's winners. and Crossover Media Artists and Projects received 12, 2015 Nominations: including Daniil Trifonov's DG debut: The Carnegie Recital, in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category.
Daniil Trifonov's The Carnegie Recital, is the Russian pianist's debut album as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon recording artist. Last February – the day before his sold-out main-stage Carnegie Hall recital debut –the young Russian pianist signed with the illustrious label, and the first release of their new partnership is a live recording of that performance. Capturing his accounts of Liszt's formidable B-minor Sonata, Scriabin's "Sonata-Fantasy" in G-sharp minor, Chopin's 24 Preludes, and, as an encore, the second of Medtner's Four Fairy Tales, the new disc has already scored a multitude of rave reviews in Europe; Germany's Bayerischer Rundfunk spoke for many in observing: "At 21, Daniil Trifonov has already cultivated a pianistic freedom that...will probably remain out of most pianists' reach all their lives." The U.S. release is timed to coincide with Trifonov's return to Carnegie Hall on February 6, when he will play Schumann's Symphonic Etudes alongside works by Ravel, Debussy, and Stravinsky.
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Classical-Music.com teams with Medici TV to offer Daniil Trifonov upcoming Carnegie Hall concert
Posted At : December 1, 2014 12:00 AM
On Wednesday December 10 Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov will perform a programme of works by Bach, Beethoven and Liszt at Carnegie Hall in New York. Classical-Music.com will team up with classical music streaming service Medici TV to offer our readers the chance to watch the performance on thier website for up to a week after the event. Medici who announced its partnership with Carnegie Hall earlier this year make performances available to watch.
Trifonov will take to the famous Perelman Stage on Tuesday 9 of December at 8pm New York time (1am on Wednesday 10 December in the UK). He will be performing an arrangement of Bach's Fantasy and Fugue for Organ, BWV 542, Beethoven's monumental Piano Sonata, Op. 111 and Liszt's Transcendental Etudes. The pianist made a name for himself when he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011 and has since then made an acclaimed recording of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 on the Mariinsky label. In February 2013 he signed an exclusive deal with Deutsche Grammophon releasing his first album for the label - The Carnegie Recital.
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Daniil Trifonov dazzles at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall / The Manchester Evening News review
Posted At : October 30, 2014 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov is a name that will be very well known before long. But right now, though his fame is massive in Moscow, Paris and New York, Manchester hasn't quite caught up: only a few hundred, though highly enthusiastic, listeners greeted the young Russian pianist's first solo recital at the Bridgewater Hall.
‘The most brilliant pianist I've ever heard' was a comment I'd gleaned beforehand from a widely travelled and discerning friend, about Daniil Trifonov.
That was setting the bar high – but in truth his technical powers are among the most dazzling I've ever witnessed, too.
The virtuosity of his playing in the final four of Liszt's Twelve Transcendental Studies was almost unbelievable. READ THE FULL Manchester Evening News REVIEW.
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Daniil Trifonov shines at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra / La Scena Musicale review
Posted At : September 27, 2014 12:00 AM
Any performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony is an occasion, and the performances currently at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra is no exception. On Thursday, September 25th, star pianist Daniil Trifonov joined them in Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and though the material was difficult, to Daniil, it was a virtual cakewalk. READ THE FULL La Scena Musicale REVIEW.
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Daniil Trifonov plays Ediburgh International Festival / Herald Scotland review
Posted At : September 1, 2014 12:00 AM
Liszt's Transcendental Studies are a colossal undertaking for any pianist. They are a catalogue of showmanship, an encyclopedia of technical challenges from double octaves to frenzied scales to the kind of finger action that sounds like several hands must be pummelling the keyboard all at once. They are physically and musically unrelenting; to sit through all 12 in a row is a big ask for the listener, let alone the performer.
Twenty-three-year-old Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov is that rare breed of old-fashioned virtuoso who can not only master this music technically, but also make some poetic sense of it. His long fingers are built for the challenge, and he has the capacity to unleash the avalanche of notes and pick character and nuance from the dense scoring. Several audience watches bleeped one o'clock during the lush textures of the penultimate study, Harmonies du soir, bringing us thumping to earth after a bewildering hour.
READ THE FULL Herald Scotland REVIEW HERE
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Daniil Trifonov Plays Schwetzingen Festival / Deutche Welle Concert Hour Broadcast
Posted At : August 22, 2014 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov is among the brightest stars in a new generation of piano soloists. This week's show draws from part two of his electrifying performance at the Schwetzingen Festival.
This week, we return with more from a gifted pianist who seems shy and retiring in person but whose performance style has been described as pure emotionality. Daniil Trifonov gave a solo recital at the most recent Schwetzingen Festival, including works in our broadcast by Schumann, Chopin and the man of the hour himself.
READ THE FULL Deutsche Welle STORY AND HEAR THE Concert Hour BROADCAST HERE
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Daniil Trifonov displays extraordinary gifts@2014 Gilmore Festival
Posted At : April 28, 2014 12:00 AM
In 1991, the initial Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival was held in Kalamazoo - the same year Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov was born. LAST Friday night April 25, Trifonov was the featured soloist selected to open The Gilmore for 2014. During the intervening years, Trifonov has achieved many goals sought by career pianists. Among his awards are First Prizes in the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition and 13th Arthur Rubenstein International Piano Master Competition, and a medal in the XVI International Chopin Piano Competition. READ FULL Michigan Live REVIEW.
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Daniil Trifonov premieres new piano concerto / Cleveland.com review
Posted At : April 24, 2014 12:00 AM
Even having seen it, one cannot quite believe it. Such is the artistry of pianist-composer Daniil Trifonov.
Much as Prokofiev's earliest listeners were surely stunned, so was a house full of benefactors Wednesday night in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music staggered by Trifonov's titanic premiere of his own First Piano Concerto.
A student at CIM and a world-class soloist, Trifonov was commissioned by the school to pen and perform a concerto as part of an effort to spawn a new generation of composer virtuosos. It was this work, the artist's largest creation to date, the pianist presented Wednesday with the CIM Orchestra and conductor Joel Smirnoff. READ THE FULL Cleveland.com REVIEW.
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Daniil Trifonov & LSO@Barbican / theartsdesk.com review
Posted At : April 14, 2014 12:00 AM
Valery Gergiev conducted the London Symphony Orchestra on Sunday night, April 13th, and the program included Messiaen Les offrandes oubliees, Chopin Piano Concerto No 2 and Scriabin Symphony No 3, The Divine Poem and featured the rising star pianist Daniil Trifonov. This concert brought to a close the London Symphony Orchestra's focus on Scriabin, in a series appropriately titled "Music in colour". READ THE FULL artsdesk.com REVIEW.
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Daniil Trifonov interviews with WETA: Wash DC
Posted At : March 10, 2014 12:00 AM
Young Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, winner of both the Tchaikovsky and Rubenstein competitions, joins the National Symphony Orchestra March 13-15, 2014 to perform Rachnaminoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Classical WETA's Deborah Lamberton speaks with Mr. Trifonov about the work, and about the new CD of his sold-out February 2013 Carnegie Hall recital, just released on Deutsche Grammophon. LISTEN TO THE ATTACHED INTERVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital / 'New Classical Tracks' feature
Posted At : February 19, 2014 12:00 AM
The prestige of performing in Carnegie Hall is awesome. More than a century after opening in 1891, this legendary concert hall continues to draw the world's greatest artists. Daniil Trifonov is one of those artists. The 22-year-old Russian pianist made his Carnegie Hall debut one year ago, and that mesmerizing evening was captured and recently released on this new DG recording - The Carnegie Recital.
Pianist Daniil Trifonov's career has skyrocketed since, at age 20, he won first prize at both the Tchaikovsky and the Rubinstein competitions in 2011. Trifonov's performances combine flawless technique with incredible depth and sensitivity, attracting fans like pianist Martha Argerich who declared, "He has everything and more, tenderness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that." Mr. Trifonov's Carnegie Hall. Mr Trifonov and his Carnegie Recital CD are featured this week on "New Classical Tracks.' Heard Nationally on Classical 24 on throughout the great state of Minnesota via MPR.
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Daniil Trifanov interview with KUAF: Fayetteville AR / Katy Henriksen
Posted At : February 17, 2014 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifanov recently spoke with KUAF: Fayetteville AR / Katy Henriksen. The young Russian pianist has taken the classical music world by storm ever since winning the both the Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein competitions in 2011. Now signed to Deutsche Grammophon, his first release: The Carnegie Hall is his debut recording. Also a composer, Trifanov feels that performance and composition help each other out.
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Daniil Trifonov talks with Toledo's WGTE about new disc and this weekend's Detroit Symphony performances
Posted At : February 13, 2014 12:00 AM
Russian pianist Daniil Trifinov will star in Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, while the Detroit Symphony orchestra, led by Giancarlo Guerrero performs three other passionate compositions: Gershwin's Cuban Overture, Respighi's Fountains of Rome and Piazzolla's Sinfonia de Buenos Aires (DSO premiere). Performances are:
Thursday, February 13 7:30 PM
Friday, February 14 10:45 AM
Friday, February 14 8:00 PM
Saturday, February 15 8:00 PM
The 10:45 a.m. performance of Ravishing Rachmaninoff, on Friday February 14, will be webcast live to a global audience via the DSO's Live From Orchestra Hall series of HD webcasts. Live From Orchestra Hall is viewable by logging on to dso.org/live or via DSO to Go, the DSO's free mobile app.
Mr. Trifinov who just released his new DG - CD: The Carnegie Recital was interviewed last week by WGTE: Toledo's Brad Cresswell, and the segment is airing this week in advance of his Detroit Symphony concerts. WGTE's signal and listening area reaches up well into Southeast Michigan
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Daniil Trifonov talks with WRCJ: Detroit TODAY!! about this weekend's DSO performances
Posted At : February 13, 2014 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifinov will star in Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, while the Detroit Symphony orchestra, led by Giancarlo Guerrero performs three other passionate compositions: Gershwin's Cuban Overture, Respighi's Fountains of Rome and Piazzolla's Sinfonia de Buenos Aires (DSO premiere). Performances are:
Mr. Trifinov who just released his new DG - CD: The Carnegie Recital was interviewed last week by WRCJ: Detroit's Chris Felcyn for 'The Listening Room, and that segment will be airing TODAY!!@ 12:40p ET.
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Daniil Trifonov visits WFMT: Chicago - Impromptu
Posted At : February 10, 2014 12:00 AM
Since winning the Grand Prix at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition, Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov has travelled the world as recitalist and concerto soloist. We're delighted to welcome him to WFMT's Impromptu with host: Lisa Flynn.
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Daniil Trifonov returns to Carnegie Hall one year after his recital debut / New York Times review
Posted At : February 7, 2014 12:00 AM
Almost exactly one year after his Carnegie Hall recital debut the young Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov returned to its main auditorium. Word of that triumphant debut, in which the then-21-year-old demonstrated his uncommon technical gifts and poetic sensibility in works by Scriabin, Liszt and Chopin, and the recent release of its live recording, contributed to the crush of ticket seekers outside the hall on Thursday evening.
The program opened with Stravinsky's Neo-Classical "Serenade in A," which Mr. Trifonov played with careful attention to structure, his lanky frame bent over the keyboard so far that his face nearly touched his hands and he resembled a watchmaker absorbed in the assembly of minute and intricate gears. Mr. Trifonov gave three encores: two fluid accounts of Chopin's Opus 28 Preludes (Nos. 17 and 16) and one composition of his own, a breathless, exuberant Scherzo from his Piano Sonata.
READ THE FULL New York Times REVIEW
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Daniil Trifonov interview and performance@WQXR-Greene Space
Posted At : February 5, 2014 12:00 AM
Daniil Trifonov is in New York this week and joined WQXR's Jeff Spurgeon to perform some Debussy and an original piece in The Greene Space. He's in town to give a recital at Carnegie Hall on Thursday Feb. 6, one year after he made his debut in a program of Scriabin, Liszt and Chopin. That performance was released by Deutsche Grammophon Trifonov commented to Spurgeon that he often practices yoga before a performance, liking the effect and freedom it gives his hands.
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Classical Radio Interviews Daniil Trifonov / TODAY!!!
Posted At : February 5, 2014 12:00 AM
For Daniil Trifonov, his U.S. release of Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital, is his debut album as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon recording artist. Last February – the day before his sold-out main-stage Carnegie Hall recital debut –the young Russian pianist signed with the illustrious label, and the first release of their new partnership is a live recording of that performance. Capturing his accounts of Liszt's formidable B-minor Sonata, Scriabin's "Sonata-Fantasy" in G-sharp minor, Chopin's 24 Preludes, and, as an encore, the second of Medtner's Four Fairy Tales, the new disc has already scored a multitude of rave reviews in Europe; Germany's Bayerischer Rundfunk spoke for many in observing: "At 21, Daniil Trifonov has already cultivated a pianistic freedom that…will probably remain out of most pianists' reach all their lives." The U.S. release is timed to coincide with Trifonov's return to Carnegie Hall on February 6 2014, for a program of Schumann's Symphonic Etudes alongside works by Ravel, Debussy, and Stravinsky. The same program serves as the vehicle for his Symphony Center recital debut, presented by the Chicago Symphony, three days later (Feb 9). In conjunction with this release, TODAY!!! Mr. Trifonov will be interviewed by Classical Radio. Upcoming airdates will be announced.
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Daniil Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital / WFMT New Release Of the Week
Posted At : February 4, 2014 12:00 AM
In the past thirty years, the honor of a live Carnegie Hall recital recording has been bestowed by DG upon only two other pianists: Mikhail Pletnev and Lang Lang. Daniil Trifonov now joins this elite company for his first recording on the Yellow Label. ‘This hall has some magic, turbulent atmosphere and when the audience comes in it just becomes completely crazy. They create such an exciting spirit and they give energy, they give wings to the performer. It's incredible' Daniil Trifonov. Daniil Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital is Lisa Flynn's pick this week on the WFMT: Chicago 'New Release Of the Week.'
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'The Carnegie Recital' by Daniil Trifonov is WCLV: Cleveland 'Choice for February'
Posted At : February 1, 2014 12:00 AM
Each month, WCLV's Program Director Bill O'Connell selects a series of special 'Choice CDs' to be featured on the air throughout the month. For February, Bill has selected The Carnegie Recital by Daniil Trifonov.
Opinions differ on whether he is the heir of Horowitz, Richter or Kissin, but in that line of giants, critical opinion is unanimous: Daniil Trifonov is the Great Russian Pianist for the 21st Century. In the past thirty years, the honor of a live Carnegie Hall recital recording has been bestowed by Deutsche Grammophon upon only two other pianists: Mikhail Pletnev and Lang Lang. Daniil Trifonov now joins this elite company for his very first recording on the Yellow Label. "This hall has some magic, turbulent atmosphere and when the audience comes in it just becomes completely crazy. They create such an exciting spirit and they give energy, they give wings to the performer. It's incredible," says the gifted student of CIM's Sergei Babayan. Recorded in February 2013, this richly contrasted and spectacularly virtuosic program includes much-loved classics by Chopin and Liszt and is the perfect album to introduce the world to DG's newest piano star.
