At 19, Daniil Trifonov attracted attention in 2010 when he won third prize at the International Warsaw Chopin Competition. His victory led to the present all-Chopin disc, recorded during live concerts in Italy from that year.
There’s no question that Trifonov has spectacular fingers and a bottomless portfolio of nuances at his disposal. Yet sometimes he fritters his gifts away, as the facile and scatterbrained renditions of the E-flat Waltz and F major Etude bear out. By contrast, Trifonov’s underlinings and italicizations cheapen the C minor Mazurka’s wistful eloquence, while the little speed-ups and slow-downs in the B minor sonata’s outer movements serve no perceptible structural or expressive purpose, although his thoughtful lyricism and deliberation in the Scherzo pleasantly surprise.
Trifonov’s accelerations in the Grande Polonaise also dissipate the music’s cumulative build and decorative lilt. On the other hand, similar liberties add color and character to Trifonov’s skittish, delightfully nuanced Rondo à la Mazur. And because Trifonov plays the B major and C major Op. 56 Mazurkas directly and simply, his innate affinity for the Mazurka idiom’s elemental rhythmic snap truly comes into focus here. How Trifonov will eventually stand out among his generation’s best keyboard talents remains an open question. Decca’s sonics are a bit bright and close-up, but not at all clangorous.
