Trifonov does Rachmaninov!

The long-awaited new album from Daniil Trifonov is finally here! It comes fully dedicated to the music of Rachmaninov, and, more specifically, to his three cycles of variations for piano. The disc will be released on August 28th by Deutsche Grammophon. First of all, Trifonov grants us the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, a late work composed by Rachmaninov in the summer of 1934, which stands as one of the author’s great scores, alongside the Third Symphony, The Bells, the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom , and the Symphonic Dances. For this recording the Philadelphia Orchestra, working under the leadership of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, focus on the youthful, 24 year old Russian virtuoso (who was born Nijni Novgorod) with rapt attention, who then goes on to proceed with another of the Russian composer’s great cycles, the underappreciated Variations on a Theme by Chopin , whose main theme resumes on the opening bars of the 20th Prelude of Op. 28, in C minor. From this strong foundation, Rachmaninov crafts a highly polyphonic work of rare complexity, and shape, through its harmonies. He has Chopin in mind, of course, for his lyrical side (Variations 6 and 21), but also Johann Sebastian Bach (Variation 1), and Schumann – for the big Finale – whose epic touch ghosts the Symphonic Studies, Op. 13. This partition, which allowed Trifonov to remove some passages, is believed by some critics to be an immense lyric poem, in which notes turn literally into words (notably Jorge Bolet, and his magical phrasing, for Decca in 1986!). Others wish to unify it, like the young Trifonov himself, whose gesture is aimed primarily at a sense of fluidity. After a relatively brief, bright page, Trifonov turns to a tender and affectionate tribute to Rachmaninov, and the album closes with the famous Variations on a Theme by Corelli, which is in fact the theme of "La Follia", which was played ceaselessly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, all over Europe.

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