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DANIIL TRIFONOV
Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Barber
Daniil Trifonov's Mephistophelean virtuosity and his love of Russian music does not obscure his insatiable thirst for new repertoire. As well as Tchaikovsky and Chopin, here he sets his sights on Samuel Barber's Sonata, with its varied and intriguing structure.
Programme
PIOTR ILYITCH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor Op. posth. 80
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Selection of Waltzes
Interval
SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981)
Piano Sonata in E-flat minor Op. 26
PIOTR ILYITCH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
The Sleeping Beauty, Suite (arr. M. Pletnev)
Distribution
- Daniil Trifonov piano
Published after his death, Tchaikovsky’s Op.80 actually precedes his Op.1. A triumphant opening, a melancholically languid second theme, a mazurka rhythm as the matrix for a delightful Andante, and hints of the first Symphony ‘Winter Dreams’ in the Scherzo make this work a memorable discovery for all lovers of the Russian composer. In the second half, the Sleeping Beauty suite translates all the rustles and sparkles of the orchestral score to the keyboard, from the delicate spiccato of the violins to the languid sighs of the reed trio.
We do not need to introduce Chopin’s Waltzes, but we’re keen to know how Daniil Trifonov, renowned for his delicate rubato, will interpret them, given their improvisational spirit, which lends itself to so many different interpretations.
Barber’s first Sonata is rarer. In it, the composer of the Adagio for Strings skilfully alternates dodecaphonic technique and impressionistic colouring, balances between binary and ternary metrics, and a lament that the composer’s biographer described as ‘the most tragic movement of all Barber wrote’.