“In a highly anticipated and much-publicized special event last Wednesday at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the young pianist-composer Daniil Trifonov premiered his own First Piano Concerto with the CIM Orchestra, as a benefit to the school’s scholarship fund,” writes Zsolt Bognár at Tuesday’s (4/29) Cleveland Classical. “Already known to the musical world for his … winning streak in the Rubinstein, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky Competitions, Trifonov’s prolific musical activities have increasingly entered the realm of composition…. The Piano Concerto … is an impressive achievement…. The piece is indebted greatly to works in Trifonov’s performing repertoire of the last few seasons, and is of a distinctly Russian idiom.… Nevertheless, the episodic work succeeds in finding an idiom all its own…. Trifonov’s performance was white-hot with almost continuous escalations of virtuosity that seemed to require more than was possible from a piano (he often nearly stood off the bench to apply full body weight).… The CIM Orchestra, skillfully led by CIM president Joel Smirnoff, was in top form … and highlighted the talents of many soloists.… The audience in Cleveland—assembled from around the world—and the excitement of the occasion attested to a unique moment of creation, rare in its reach and power.”
Posted May 2, 2014
