Piano Phenom Daniil Trifonov Joins Valery Gergiev at Verbier Festival (July 25) and BBC Proms (July 28) This Summer
It was with Valery Gergiev on the podium that Daniil Trifonov – piano’s “tender demon” (Deutsche Welle) – made his debut at the BBC Proms two years ago, and it is with Gergiev that he returns to the historic series on July 28, to play Prokofiev’s First and Third Piano Concertos on a sold-out program with the London Symphony Orchestra. Enjoying a musical partnership of long standing, the two appear together frequently this summer. Earlier this month they collaborated on Rachmaninoff at St. Petersburg’s Stars of the White Nights Festival; on July 15 they perform Chopin with the Mariinsky Orchestra at Germany’s Kissinger Sommer; and on July 23 they join forces with pianist Denis Matsuev for Mozart’s Concerto for Three Pianos at Switzerland’s Verbier Festival, during a residency that also features Trifonov in recital with fellow pianist Sergei Babayan (July 25). This showcases his signature account of Liszt’s notoriously challenging 12 Transcendental Études, which also forms the centerpiece of his upcoming solo recitals at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad (Aug 23) and France’s Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron (Aug 5).
After a recent rendition of the Études in the Boston Celebrity Series, the Boston Globe declared:
“Trifonov, all of 24 years old, gave one of the great performances of Liszt’s endlessly demanding score. Pianophiles will remember cherished recordings by Lazar Berman and Claudio Arrau; Trifonov belongs in their rarefied company. Each etude was imbued with an incandescent blend of technique, sensibility, and imagination.”
Click here to watch Trifonov play Liszt’s 12 Transcendental Études in December, during his third solo recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Summer also sees the pianist join Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in Rheingau, Germany (July 18–20). Earlier this month, as the most recent winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, where he took both First Prize and Grand Prix in 2011, it was his account of Tchaikovsky’s Romantic masterpiece that drew the grand opening concert of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition to a climactic close.
After scoring both an ECHO Klassik Award and a Grammy nomination for Trifonov: The Carnegie Hall Recital, his first recording as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, the Russian pianist now looks forward to the August 28 release of his second, Rachmaninoff Variations, which he recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in March. The album features Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Variations on a Theme of Chopin, and Trifonov’s own composition, Rachmaniana. When he played Rachmaninoff with the Chicago Symphony this spring, the Chicago Tribune realized:
Rachmaninoff Variations (Deutsche Grammophon)
“From the commanding thunder of his entry, and the idiomatic fluidity with which he and the orchestra conversed throughout the concerto, you knew something special was going on. Coruscating technique Trifonov has in abundance, but there is also an acute musical sensitivity that makes every note speak directly to the listener. His tone was always bright, full, forward and beautiful; he seemed incapable of producing an ugly sound, even when roaring up and down the keyboard at full speed.”
To download high-resolution photos, click here.
Daniil Trifonov: summer engagements
July 15
Bad Kissengen, Germany
Kissinger Sommer
Mariinsky Orchestra / Valery Gergiev
CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 2
July 18–20
Rheingau, Germany
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vladimir Jurowski
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1
July 22–31
Verbier, Switzerland
Verbier Festival
July 22
SCHUMANN: Andante and Variations for two pianos, two cellos, and horn (with Sergei Babayan, piano; Lynn Harrell, cello; Mischa Maisky, cello; and Olivier Darbellay, horn)
July 23
Verbier Festival Orchestra / Valery Gergiev
MOZART: Concerto for three pianos and orchestra in F, K. 242 (with Valery Gergiev & Denis Matsuev, pianos)
July 25
RACHMANINOFF: Suite No. 1 for two pianos, “Fantaisie-tableaux” (with Sergei Babayan)
RACHMANINOFF: Suite No. 2 for two pianos (with Sergei Babayan)
LISZT: 12 Transcendental Études
July 31
BEETHOVEN: Piano Trio in D, Op. 70, No. 1, “Ghost”
SCHUBERT: Notturno in E-flat for piano trio, Op. 148, D. 897
BRAHMS: Piano Trio No. 1 in B, Op. 8
With Ilya Gringolts, violin; Truls Mork, cello
July 28
London, UK
Royal Albert Hall
BBC Proms
London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev
PROKOFIEV: Piano Concertos No. 1 & 3
Aug 5
La Roque-d’Anthéron, France
Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron
BACH, arr. BRAHMS: Chaconne for the left hand from Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin
RACHMANINOFF: Variations on a theme of Corelli, Op. 42
LISZT: 12 Transcendental Études
Aug 22 & 23
Gstaad, Switzerland
Menuhin Festival Gstaad
Aug 22
Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 4
Aug 23
Solo recital
BACH, arr. BRAHMS: Chaconne for the left hand from Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin
RACHMANINOFF: Variations on a theme of Corelli, Op. 42
LISZT: 12 Transcendental Études
Aug 28
CD Release
Rachmaninoff Variations
With Philadelphia Orchestra / Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Aug 28 & 29
Edinburgh, UK
Edinburgh International Festival
Liederabend with Matthias Goerne, baritone
SCHUMANN: Dichterliebe
WOLF: Michelangelo Lieder
SHOSTAKOVICH: Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti (selection)
BRAHMS: Four Serious Songs
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© 21C Media Group, July 2015