Daniil Trifonov Liszt: Transcendental (2016) [tr24][of]

Daniil Trifonov, winner of the XIVth International Tchaikovsky Competition, is probably the world’s most exciting young pianist. On his first Mariinsky recording he joins Valery Gergiev for a scintillating performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1. Daniil also presents a selection of recital repertoire including music by Tchaikovsky, Chopin and Liszt transcriptions of Schubert and Schumann.

Opinions differ on whether he is the heir of Horowitz, Richter or Kissin but in that line of giants, critical opinion is unanimous: Daniil Trifonov is THE great Russian pianist for the 21st Century. In the past thirty years, the honour of a live Carnegie Hall recital recording has been bestowed by DG upon only two other pianists: Mikhail Pletnev and Lang Lang. Daniil Trifonov now joins this elite company for his very first recording on the Yellow Label.

Daniil Trifonov's 2013 recital at Carnegie Hall is a clear demonstration of what this pianist does well, in works well-suited to his talents. Trifonov has a reputation for his dazzling technique, which he has shown to best advantage in performances of Romantic repertoire, and his live readings of Alexander Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor, "Sonata-Fantasy," Franz Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor, and Frédèric Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28, offer a well-rounded impression of his extraordinary abilities.

Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov is one of the contenders for the mantle of hot new Russian phenomenon, and he is gifted with the rare combination of incredible speed and a fairly natural manner in slower lyric material. Here he takes on the thankless task of creating something new out of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23, which he, like every other winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition going back to Van Cliburn, has been given the opportunity to record.