Daniil Trifonov. Carnegie Hall. Opera Club Meet Me At The Opera

Trifonovs existential Prokofiev with National Symphony transcends time, genre. ByGeorge Grella. New York Classical Review. Pianist Daniil Trifono performed in Prokofievs Piano Concerto No. 2. StravinskysFirebird. Trifonov was incredible, delivering the finest and most thrilling pianism many in the audience are likely to ever hear. The oneword elevator pitch for the program was character. This was music full of personalitythe exoticism of early Stravinsky is well known, and it was complemented by Walkers rich lyricism and Prokofievs alternating sardonic coolness and bracing violence. This music demanded equal character from the musicians, and the orchestra mostly, but not always, delivered. The performance of Walters onemovement symphony, subtitled Strands, was terrific. The music has weight to it far out of proportion to its relative brevity, with constantly shifting inner textures and a harmonic motion that is expansive but never fully rests on either consonance o