Biography
“[Trifonov paired] 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.”
Bachtrack, December 2023, reviewing a recital at Carnegie Hall
Whenever Daniil Trifonov performs, time appears to stand still. Out of silence emerges a rare kind of music-making, transcendent and revelatory, never predictable yet always alive to the composer’s intentions and rooted in the music’s nature. “What he does with his hands is technically incredible,” observed one commentator shortly after the young Russian pianist’s winning performance in the final of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2011. “It’s also his touch – he has tenderness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that.” This was the opinion not of a professional critic but of one of the world’s greatest pianists, Martha Argerich.
Trifonov’s inventive brilliance and individuality also extend to his growing reputation as a composer, which reached a new level in April 2014 when he performed the fiendishly difficult solo part in the world premiere of his First Piano Concerto at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has since performed the work extensively and gave its Carnegie Hall debut with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev in November 2017. Trifonov premiered his Piano Quintet (Quintetto Concertante) at the Verbier Festival in July 2018 and has since given further performances in Berlin, New York and Tel Aviv, among others. His Deutsche Grammophon discography features a number of his own works and transcriptions.
The Yellow Label announced the signing of an exclusive recording agreement with Daniil Trifonov in February 2013. His debut recital, recorded live at Carnegie Hall, presented Liszt’s Sonata in B minor, Scriabin’s “Sonata-Fantasy”, and Chopin’s 24 Preludes op. 28. His next album (2015) featured Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, recorded with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, together with the same composer’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin and Variations on a Theme of Corelli and Trifonov’s Rachmaniana, a virtuoso piece for solo piano.
In 2016, DG released Transcendental, his recording of Liszt’s complete concert Études: the first such survey created for the Yellow Label by one artist. The following year saw the release of Preghiera, recorded with violinist Gidon Kremer and cellist Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė; Chopin Evocations, comprising recordings made with Mikhail Pletnev and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra of the two Chopin piano concertos, as well as a selection of Chopin’s earliest and latest works, and Chopin-inspired pieces by Schumann, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Mompou and Barber; and a Schubert album featuring the “Trout” Quintet and other chamber works, recorded with Anne-Sophie Mutter and three graduates of the Mutter Foundation.
Trifonov then recorded the complete Rachmaninov piano concertos with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Nézet-Séguin. Destination Rachmaninov – Departure, featuring Nos. 2 and 4, was released in October 2018, followed a year later by Destination Rachmaninov – Arrival, completing the cycle with Nos. 1 & 3. His live recording of No. 2 as part of the historic DG120 Gala Concert at Beijing’s Forbidden City was released in January 2019.
Silver Age, made with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, was issued in November 2020. It includes Scriabin’s Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor and Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka, among other works by three of the most pioneering composers of Russia’s Silver Age. In October 2021, Trifonov released a double album centred around J.S. Bach’s The Art of the Fugue. Also including pieces by four of Bach’s sons, among other works, Bach: The Art of Life reflects the pianist’s insight into the family life and music-making of one of the greatest composers of all time.
For his next release, Trifonov joined baritone Matthias Goerne for the last in the latter’s trilogy of Lieder recordings with three of DG’s outstanding young pianists. Featuring works by Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Berg and Shostakovich, Matthias Goerne · Daniil Trifonov – Lieder came out in June 2022. The pianist’s subsequent album saw him reunited with his mentor Sergei Babayan. Rachmaninoff for Two contains performances of the two Suites for two pianos, the two-piano version of the Symphonic Dances, and Trifonov’s transcription of the Adagio from Symphony No. 2. It was released to critical acclaim in March 2024 (“a winning mix of limitless pianism, deep knowledge and visionary boldness” – Gramophone).
Trifonov’s latest project is a two-part pianistic exploration of the Americas. Set for release on 4 October 2024, the first album, My American Story – North, presents music from the United States. Joined by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Nézet-Séguin in Gershwin’s Concerto in F and the world premiere recording of the concerto written for him by Mason Bates, Trifonov also performs solo works by John Adams, John Cage, Aaron Copland, John Corigliano, Dave Grusin, Thomas Newman, Art Tatum and Bill Evans.
During the 2024–25 season, Trifonov is artist-in-residence with both the Czech Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He inaugurates the new season with the former ensemble at the Rudolfinum in Prague with two performances of Dvořák’s Piano Concerto, one of which will be livestreamed on STAGE+ (26 September), and gives a first recital at Chicago’s Symphony Center on 17 November.
Further upcoming highlights include two performances with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and Alan Gilbert at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie (3/4 October: Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major); a recital at Carnegie Hall, New York (17 October); European tours with the Bamberger Symphoniker and Jakub Hrůša (21 October−5 November: the Dvořák Concerto & Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini) and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Rafael Payare (19–28 November: Schumann’s Piano Concerto & Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1); and a trio of concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko at the Berlin Philharmonie (29‑31 December – Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2).
Daniil Trifonov was born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1991, the son of professional musicians. He made his debut with orchestra at the age of eight, and went on to study at Moscow’s Gnessin School of Music with Tatiana Zelikman. In 2009 he enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Music to study with Sergei Babayan; he also received lessons in composition during his time there. He won the 13th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv in 2011 before returning home to secure first prize, the Gold Medal, and Grand Prix at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition. He also won the Tchaikovsky Competition’s Audience Award and the Award for the best performance of a Mozart concerto, on which occasion, Martha Argerich concluded that Trifonov was gifted with “everything and more”.
Her view has been endorsed by an ongoing flood of rave reviews, audience ovations, artistic residencies and international prizes, including one Grammy Award (Transcendental) and six nominations; the 2014 ECHO Klassik Award for Best Newcomer of the Year (Piano); Gramophone’s 2016 “Artist of the Year” award; BBC Music Magazine’s 2019 Concerto Recording of the Year (Destination Rachmaninov – Departure); Musical America’s Artist of the Year 2019; and a 2021 OPUS KLASSIK Instrumentalist of the Year Award for Silver Age. Trifonov has also been appointed a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic. He is now the subject of a new documentary made by Christian Dumais-Lvowski and Denis Sneguirev entitled Daniil Trifonov – Grâce à la musique (2024).
9/2024