“Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital” due for U.S. release on DG, Jan 28

For Daniil Trifonov, January 28 marks the U.S. release of Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital, 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, when he will play 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).
 
Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital has already been released in Europe, where it prompted a deluge of positive press. The Irish Times hailed Trifonov as “a player of formidable technique and imagination,” while France’s Les Echos welcomed him as “the miracle we have been talking about,” whose “impressive maturity ensures that his playing is without showy or easy tricks.” In a five-star review, the UK’s Telegraph declared:
 
“The playing testifies to a maturity of technique and vision remarkable in a musician who was only 21 at the time. … It is not merely the power and dexterity of Trifonov’s playing that make such an arresting impression, though the torrents of octaves in both the right hand and the left towards the end of the Liszt are astonishing in their brilliance, boldness, and bravura. Rather, the key thing here is that Trifonov can harness his digital strength, stamina, and skill to a highly developed sense of the music’s expressive substance.”
 
According to veteran British critic Julian Haylock, in the Liszt, “Trifonov fearlessly probes the music’s wild imaginings, creating a compelling emotional narrative,” with playing that “combin[es] the crystal technical clarity and superhuman reflexes of Krystian Zimerman with the incendiary spontaneity of Martha Argerich” (Sinfini Music, UK). In the “Sonata-Fantasy,” the Telegraph admired the way Trifonov “absorbed the significance of nuances and graduations of dynamics and pacing to find the very nub of Scriabin’s distinctive world of sound.” Les Echos found that his rendition of Chopin’s preludes offered a “stunning mosaic of colors and feelings…more reminiscent of an old master than a young artist.” And, as the Telegraph concluded, his “encore of a Medtner Fairy Tale cap[ped] a captivating recital brimful of character.” Audio and video extracts from Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital are provided at the album’s mini-site: album.deutschegrammophon.com/trifonov-carnegie-recital/home.
 
It is not only in recital and on disc that Trifonov, winner of the Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein competitions, maintains a strong U.S. presence this season: following his first appearances with all the “Big Five” orchestras in 2012-13, he is currently undertaking no fewer than six U.S. orchestral debuts. These include performances of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – a Trifonov specialty – with the San Francisco Symphony under Osmo Vänskä (Jan 30–Feb 1), and with the Detroit Symphony (Feb 13-15), the Houston Symphony (Feb 28–March 2), and the National Symphony under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (March 13-15). It was on hearing Trifonov’s account of the Rhapsody that the San Diego Union-Tribune observed: “It was as if he was plugged into Rachmaninoff’s psyche. … His flawless technique was astonishing, yet every note was tied to some musical impulse.”
 
Another of Rachmaninoff’s orchestral masterpieces, the Second Piano Concerto, was featured in the pianist’s recent first performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at which he impressed the Los Angeles Times with his characteristic mix of “bombs-away fireworks and meticulous delicacy.” For his Pittsburgh Symphony debut last month, Trifonov played another of his compatriot’s concertos – Prokofiev’s fiendishly difficult Second. In a glowing review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette avowed:
 
“Every so often – actually not very often – an artist comes along who just knocks your socks off. I don’t think I’ve used that expression in a lifetime of reviewing, but…the 22-year-old Mr. Trifonov filled the bill in every way.”
 
Further details of Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital and of Daniil Trifonov’s upcoming engagements can be found below, and more information is available at the artist’s web site: daniiltrifonov.com.
 

 
Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital
 
Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor
Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 19 (“Sonata-Fantasy”)
Chopin: 24 Préludes, Op. 28
Medtner: Four Fairy Tales, Op. 26, No. 2: “Molto Vivace”
 
Label:                          Deutsche Grammophon
Catalogue number:   0289 479 1728 1 CD DDD GH
U.S. release date:       January 28
 

 
Daniil Trifonov: upcoming engagements
 
Jan 8
Oslo, Norway
Oslo Concert Hall
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
 
Jan 12
Treviso, Italy
Recital
 
Jan 14
Ferrara, Italy
Recital
 
Jan 16
Lyon, France
Recital
 
Jan 18-24
Tour with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen / Mikhail Pletnev
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2
 
Jan 21
Berlin, Germany
Recital
 
Jan 28
U.S. release of Deutsche Grammophon debut album
Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital
 
Jan 30–Feb 1
San Francisco, CA
Davies Symphony Hall
San Francisco Symphony / Osmo Vänskä
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
 
Feb 6
New York, NY
Carnegie Hall
Stravinsky: Serenade in A
Ravel: “Noctuelles,” “Oiseaux tristes,” “Une barque sur l’océan,” and “Alborada del gracioso” from Miroirs
Debussy: ”Reflets dans l’eau” and ”Mouvement” from Images
Schumann: Études symphoniques Op. 13 (with posthumous Études)
 
Feb 9
Chicago, IL
Symphony Center
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Presents
Stravinsky: Serenade in A
Ravel: “Noctuelles,” “Oiseaux tristes,” “Une barque sur l’océan,” and “Alborada del gracioso” from Miroirs
Debussy: ”Reflets dans l’eau” and ”Mouvement” from Images
Schumann: Études symphoniques Op. 13 (with posthumous Études)
 
Feb 13-15
Detroit, MI
Orchestra Hall
Detroit Symphony Orchestra / Giancarlo Guerrero
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
 
Feb 28 – March 2
Houston, TX
Jesse H. Jones Hall
Houston Symphony / James Gaffigan
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
 
March 3
Dallas, TX
Dallas City Performance Hall
Dallas Chamber Music Society
Gala event: recital with Sergei Babayan
 
March 6
Logan, UT
Utah State University Music Department
Recital with Sergei Babayan

March 7
Fresno, CA
Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts
Concert Hall: CSU Fresno
Recital with Sergei Babayan
 
March 9
Portland, OR
Lincoln Performance Hall
Portland Piano International
Stravinsky: Serenade in A
Ravel: “Noctuelles,” “Oiseaux tristes,” “Une barque sur l’océan,” and “Alborada del gracioso” from Miroirs
Debussy: ”Reflets dans l’eau” and ”Mouvement” from Images
Schumann: Études symphoniques Op. 13 (with posthumous Études)
 
March 13-15
Washington, DC
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
National Symphony Orchestra / Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
 
 
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© 21C Media Group, December 2013