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I've finally listened to enough Daniil Trifonov recordings. . .

76.126.5.126

Posted on March 12, 2015 at 18:01:41
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. . . to offer at least a provisional opinion. Trifonov was the winner of the 2011 Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition and has been hailed as a new pianistic wonder by many critics and listeners. Since there was no first prize winner in 2007, Trifonv actually became the first first-prize winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition since Ayako Uehara in 2002. Unfortunately, Uehara seems not to have sustained her career, although her playing, at least for me (on the basis of her EMI Prokofiev recital), certainly did have interesting aspects to it.

All I can say about Trifonov is that, as with certain other classical pianists (Barenboim, Arrau, post-1960 Horowitz, most of Berezofsky), I'm just not on his wavelength - which really means I'm hearing flaws in his playing (whether real or imagined!). In a way, much of Trifonov's playing reminds me of post-1960 Horowitz': the same nervousness, and irregularities in rhythm and tone production. Sometimes, a performance will be described favorably as having a nervous intensity (many of Argerich's performances might qualify for that description), but that's not what I mean when I say that Trifonov exhibits nervousness. I mean that he doesn't do basic things well, such as sustain his tone through a single line, or maintain a regular rhythm as he builds phrases. A perfect example of this is his playing of the Chopin G-sharp minor Prelude (from Trifonov's Carnegie Hall recital): compared with the best other performances, Trifonov's goes by fits and starts - to be sure, these are micro fits and starts, but they're present nonetheless. When compared with pianists as diverse as Argerich, Pogorelich, Moravec, and Sokolov (all of whom maintain a consistency of tonal production and proportionate speed modifications in this work), Trifonov seems to me more of a second-tier pianist, because his deviations from rhythmic proportion and tonal regularity seem less planned and purposeful and more unplanned and fitful. Of course, Trifonov has his successes too, as in the C-sharp minor Prelude ("Chopin killing a moth" - was it Tausig who said that?), which flits by with extraordinary lightness and immediacy - and there are other very satisfying performances of a few individual Preludes too.

But my prevailing negative impression is even more firmly fixed when I listen to the Scriabin Second Sonata from the same Carnegie Hall recital: I hear slight breaks in the moonlit seascape of the first movement, owing to similar tiny rhythmic disruptions (again, these are very subtle, but I certainly feel that I'm hearing them - and their purpose eludes me). And the tremendous build of the second movement also suffers from Trifonov's tendency to tinker with things (texture, rhythm, voicing) unnecessarily, thereby undermining the cumulative power of the music. Once again, a number of very diverse pianists do this work better IMHO, including Yuja, Demidenko, Pogorelich, Mejoueva, and (at least in the first movement) Michel Block.

As if to provide an exclamation mark to all of this, Trifonov's encore, one of the Medtner Folk (or Fairy) Tales, takes fitfulness to a new level. I just don't see how Jed Distler can describe this performance as being like Golden Age pianism.

And, Andy, I have to apologize - I started to listen to Trifonov's Liszt Sonata, but, after a few minutes, I just couldn't go on - not because the performance was so bad, but because I just can't take another Liszt Sonata right now, unless it's on the order of a Khatia or Pogo (or, for something more conventional, Nojima) performance. I'll try to listen to Trifonov in this work at a later time.

In any case, Trifonov did win the Tchaikovsky Competition, and they can't take that away from. But a year previous to the Tchaikovsky Competition, in 2010, Trifonov entered the Warsaw Chopin Competition, where he placed third (actually fourth, since, with a tie for second place, there were three other pianists ranked ahead of him). My suspicion is that the Warsaw jury was correct to rank him behind the others, even though the first prize winner, Yulianna Avdeeva, has not begun her post competition career in a very compelling fashion.

No, the pianist in the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition who should have won and gotten access to the commercial recording opportunities (again, just IMHO) was the silver medalist, South Korea's Yeol Eum Son. Now there's a real player, with finish to her playing. Some of her competition performances are available on YouTube, as well as some of her other concert performances. I would recommend her videos of the Mozart Concerto No. 21 (an actual unedited Tchaikovsky Competition performance - and despite the "vibrato as an ornment" HIP tendencies which have now even crept into the Tchaikovsky Competition of all places - Geez!), the Alkan "Le Festin d'Esope", the Prokofiev Sonata No. 8, a troika of Kapustin Etudes, and this video below (which I'll embed - I hope it works!) of the Kapustin Variations:








As you can see, as an added bonus, she's quite the babe too! (BTW, I do not recommend her video of Beethoven's Op. 111 Sonata because of the substandard SQ - very distracting.)

 

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Wow she's good..., posted on March 12, 2015 at 21:49:26
kuma
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I have seen more and more interesting Korean artists coming out or a friend sending me some YouTube videos with Korean artists lately. I have to put her on my list to watch.

btw, I wasn't too enthused with Trifonov's Carnegie Debut CD but surprisingly he was terrific live as Gidon Kremer's accompanist for Weinberg Sonata recial.
As a soloist, his Mozart piece (K.397) was meh, but Schubert's Fantasy (D.934) was terrific.

I don't own any of his music but I am catching him playing live anytime I can, tho.

 

RE: I've finally listened to enough Daniil Trifonov recordings. . . , posted on March 13, 2015 at 00:36:30
Todd Krieger
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Not too many young pianists do I hear "dynamic layering"..... A bright future. She will be on my radar. Thanks much!

 

I can easily imagine Yeol's performance of the Kapustin...., posted on March 13, 2015 at 14:16:22
krisjan
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...accompanied by upright bass and drums. Nice jazz feel. I have no Kapustin in my collection though I've heard of him. Checked out his Wiki page and found that he uses jazz influences in his composing - duh! That's opne terrific performance by Ms. Yeol! Thanks for sharing it.

As for Trifonov, I also don't know his work but I most certainly appreciate your perspective about his playing. I, too, saw the recent Distler review which made me think I should check out his work. Maybe not so much after your comments. (BTW, I also admire Nojima's Liszt sonata).

 

Kapustin, posted on March 13, 2015 at 16:59:04
jimbill
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If you had to buy one recording of his music?

 

RE: I can easily imagine Yeol's performance of the Kapustin...., posted on March 13, 2015 at 17:09:47
SLee
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Her family name is Son.

 

RE: Kapustin, posted on March 14, 2015 at 00:32:00
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Despite the presence of recordings by Marc-Andre Hamelin and the composer himself, the recording I still enjoy most is:



. . . simply for the variety.

 

Yes - but we're on a first-name basis with our babe musicians here on AA [nt] ;-), posted on March 14, 2015 at 00:33:21
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RE: I've finally listened to enough Daniil Trifonov recordings. . . , posted on March 14, 2015 at 05:27:27
Analog Scott
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I will be seeing him in April at Soka.

And yes I am back from China.

 

In my opinion, posted on March 14, 2015 at 08:46:19
Amphissa
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First, there are recordings of Kapustin playing his own music. You can't get much better than that in terms of the music. However, the audio is not always top drawer. Try some one YouTube to see if it's good enough for you.

IMO, the best recording I've heard is by Shan-Shan Sun. I think she qualifies as a "babe". Check out this YouTube clip and see if you like her performance of Kapustin's Concert Etude Op. 40 No. 3: Toccatina.

Shan-Shan Sun plays Kapustin's Toccatina

Kapustin sounds like jazz, but every note is written. He considered himself a composer, not a jazz performer. In the Toccatina, you'll immediately be reminded of Piazzola.

Just for fun, here is Kapustin himself, playing with a big band.

Kapustin Toccata



"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)

 

Wow, dude, you are really into this!!, posted on March 14, 2015 at 08:55:13
rlw
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I greatly enjoy your comments, they are very thoughtful and clearly come from someone with experience for this type of music. Please keep it up, I learn quite a bit from your writings!!

-RW-

 

Neat! Let us know how things are there when you get a chance [nt], posted on March 14, 2015 at 09:12:02
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I waited a long time before posting comments. . . , posted on March 14, 2015 at 09:18:02
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. . . because, obviously, this is not a majority opinion. (Just look at the Amazon reviews!) I'm trying to tread gingerly at this point - Trifonov has shown some flashes of brilliance, but I just don't think he's consistently there (i.e., at the level many listeners claim) quite yet. Anyway, thanks for the comments!

 

RE: Neat! Let us know how things are there when you get a chance [nt], posted on March 14, 2015 at 10:03:19
Analog Scott
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I will for sure. Are you going to any of Yuja's concerts next week? I will be there for the 3/22 and 3/23 dates

 

RE: I've finally listened to enough Daniil Trifonov recordings. . . , posted on March 14, 2015 at 10:18:27
Analog Scott
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And here is Yuja playing it. The SQ is horrible but it gives you some idea of her take on the piece.

 

Unfortunately I had not planned to go - Shostakovich not being one of my faves [nt], posted on March 14, 2015 at 15:28:21
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Wow - that defines the term, "pirated video", posted on March 14, 2015 at 15:33:46
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I liked it but, as you say, she's operating under the disadvantage of the "in the wilds" SQ. It appears from the comments on this performance as if YT has a lot of self-appointed "experts" on Kapustin and jazz style, who, nevertheless, can't seem to separate SQ from the actual performance. LOL!

 

BTW, in case you didn't catch it. . . , posted on March 14, 2015 at 20:39:39
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. . . the Kapustin Variations are based on the opening of the Rite of Spring!

 

Yes, I did catch that riff at the beginning of the piece (nt), posted on March 15, 2015 at 06:40:58
krisjan
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.

 

RE: Kapustin, posted on March 23, 2015 at 16:09:52
bald2
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Agreed. I rather like this one and listen to it from time to time, along with (for some strange reason) Milne's Alexandrov CD. Probably because I acquired them at the same time after hearing both on the same day at a friend's place. Funny how that happens:)

 

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