Event Details

A staggering talent by any measure, 32-year old Russian-American pianist Daniil Trifonov is a superstar of the classical music world. His rise to stardom began in 2010-11 when he won medals at three major international piano competitions: the Chopin Competition in Warsaw (Bronze Medal), the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv (First Prize) and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (Gold Medal and the rarely awarded Grand Prix). A player in the great Russian virtuoso tradition, he embodies an electrifying intensity that leaves audiences completely awed and deeply moved. His genius is unquestioned. In the words of Martha Argerich, “He has everything and more…tenderness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that.”

Not surprisingly, today he plays to sold-out audiences everywhere and appears with the world’s most prominent orchestras and conductors--the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and many more. He has received countless awards and honors, among them being named Gramophone’s Classical Artist of the Year in 2016 and in Musical America’s 2019 Artist of the Year.

Daniil’s early music studies at the Gnessin School in Russia continued at the Cleveland Institute of Music with renowned teacher/pianist Sergei Babayan. He also studied composition and has written a piano concerto, a piano quintet, and several solo pieces. His first recording as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist was a live capture of his sensational debut recital at Carnegie Hall in February of 2013, made two days after his equally sensational debut on our series in Minnesota. The disc brought him his first Grammy nomination and was soon followed by a recording of the complete Liszt Etudes, named to The New York Times’ list of Best Classical Music Recordings of 2016 and the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. His latest recording (2019) is ‘Bach: The Art of Life,’ a two-CD set comprising J.S. Bach’s The Art of the Fugue and music by other members of the Bach family.

"Daniil Trifonov – Grâce à la musique,” a new documentary by Christian Dumais-Lvowski and Denis Sneguirev, received its first broadcast on February 18. 2024 on ARTE. The film brings viewers into Trifonov’s home, where he plays works by Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Bach, and Ravel and discusses his connection to the music.

“What sets Trifonov apart is a pair of attributes that are seldom found in one pianist: monstrous technique and lustrous tone. The characteristic Trifonov effect is a rapid, glistening flurry of notes that hardly seems to involve the mechanical action of hammers and strings.”
— Alex Ross, The New Yorker

“…the most astounding pianist of our age.”
— New York Times

“Audience members came for Daniil Trifonov, the hipster poet of the piano, who caressed the keys until they yielded music that was like a sinuous being of its own.”
— The Washington Post

“He is, no other word, a phenomenon. Like Rachmaninov, he is both a dazzling pianist and a composer.”
— The Guardian

“A slender man with an exuberant stage presence, Mr Trifonov is certainly a virtuoso with a demonstrably prizewinning technique … [He] demonstrated an elegant touch and witty grace in more lighthearted moments and poetic insight in more introspective passages.”
— The New York Times

“Few artists have burst onto the classical music scene in recent years with the incandescence of the pianist Daniil Trifonov.”
— The New York Times

“Everything about the Russian-born pianist seems big. His awards and accolades, the scope of his repertoire, his explosive playing — all these have elicited breathless superlatives from novices and experts alike. His program, part of the La Jolla Music Society’s impressive Piano Series, was, appropriately, massive, more than two hours of some of the most difficult music in the literature, virtually all of it performed with deep artistry and astounding technique.”
— San Diego Union Tribune

PROGRAM

RAMEAU
Suite in A minor

MOZART
Sonata in F Major, K. 332

MENDELSSOHN
Variations Sérieuses, Op. 54

Intermission

BEETHOVEN
Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”)