Based on Daniil Trifonov’s past recitals at Carnegie Hall, expectations were high for this recital. The over-capacity crowd (overflowing into extra seating onstage) was not disappointed. The pianist presented an unusual, thoughtfully planned program, pairing a collection of late Baroque harpsichord pieces with some of the most demanding works in the piano repertoire, all performed with superlative artistry and stunning technique.
The evening opened with Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Suite in A minor, a seven-part set of early 18th-century dances and character pieces. Coming onto the stage, Trifonov barely glanced at the audience. He simply walked over to the piano, gave a quick bow, and then sat down and played the ruminative opening of the contrapuntally complex Allemande. His body nearly motionless, moving only his hands, he immediately captured the audience with his soft, serene playing. After a sedate but sprightly Courante and an elegant Sarabande, he infused the three genre pieces – the frolicsome Les trois mains, the prancing Fanfarinette, and the jubilant La Triomphante – with more intensity than the delicately delivered dance movements. The concluding Gavotte et six doubles soon gave way to six increasingly virtuosic variations, each dispatched with tremendous momentum, building up to a thrilling climax, by which time the entire audience was completely rapt.
The opening Allegro of Mozart’s Piano Sonata no. 12 in F major, played at very high speed, maintained a combination of fervor and exuberance, as it raced forward with high-spirited abandon. The triple-time Allegro assai finale was equally exhilarating with Trifonov exuding a wonderful sense of joy and spontaneity. Most affecting of all was the luminously lyrical Adagio, its hushed phrases, ornamented with elegant coloratura, wafting serenely above a gently arpeggiated bass.
A dazzling rendition of Felix Mendelssohn’s brief (13 minutes) but formidable masterpiece, the Variations sérieuses, was the highlight of the evening. A most suitable companion piece to Rameau’s Gavotte, it opens like the earlier work, with a somber, somewhat doleful minor-key theme leading into a series of 17 intricate and splendidly inventive variations – widely fluctuating in mood, tempo and dynamics. Composed in 1841 as a homage to Beethoven who had passed away fourteen years earlier, the piece was clearly intended to be “serious”. Without ignoring the work’s reverential intent, Trifonov delivered a bravura account – assured, fearless, full of fire and energy – as he moved from one variation to the next, infusing each with a dose of drama and weight beyond its seemingly small dimensions, and culminating in a breathtaking finale which brought many in the nearly 3000-strong audience to their feet.
The excitement continued after intermission. With some concertgoers still applauding his entrance, and others still settling into their seats, Trifonov sat down and immediately plunged into the fortissimo chords that open Beethoven’s staggering Hammerklavier Sonata, then and went on to deliver a shimmering account – fluent, fleet, agile, and endlessly inventive. From a concentrated and strikingly dramatic opening Allegro he segued directly into the Scherzo, the melody permeated with a bouncy dance-like feeling. The poetic Adagio, played with an attractively hushed tone, had a striking sense of repose. Trifonov’s playing was astoundingly self-assured and authoritative as he faultlessly maintained the tempo in a forceful account of the complex final fugal movement that brought the recital to a commanding close.
Sustained, enthusiastic applause calling the pianist back to the stage several times, he offered three short encores: Art Tatum’s bluesy rendition of I Cover the Waterfront, the Andante from Alexander Scriabin’s Third Piano Sonata, and excerpts from Federico Mompou’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin.
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