Cristian Măcelaru - Conductor
Daniil Trifonov - Piano
Rachmaninoff - The Isle of the Dead
Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2
This is a much sought after ticket. Both of these artists are young superstars at the top of their game. Trifonov, age 24 years, is remarkably different from all the rest. He's spectacular.
Review: Daniil Trifonov Brings Subtlety to Rachmaninoff
For three weeks, on behalf of Rachmaninoff, the New York Philharmonic is putting itself at the disposal of the dazzling 24-year-old Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. On Wednesday night at David Geffen Hall, Mr. Trifonov was a brilliant, uncommonly poetic soloist in that composer’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Piano Concerto No. 2. Given the familiarity of these pieces, you might wonder why a Rachmaninoff festival was called for.
But this one does have Mr. Trifonov, who is playing three of the four concertos, as well as the Rhapsody, with three different conductors. There are also two substantial orchestra works in store, including the Symphonic Dances, Rachmaninoff’s final composition. Wednesday’s first installment offered the impressive Romanian-born conductor Cristian Macelaru in an auspicious Philharmonic debut, beginning the program with a weighty, surging account of the 1909 tone poem “The Isle of the Dead.”
Yet the festival is built around the slender, mop-haired Mr. Trifonov, whose career has been zooming since 2011, when he took first prize in the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, then weeks later won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Though he brought astounding technique to his performance here, Mr. Trifonov favored subtlety and clarity over sensationalism. In the Rhapsody, when the pianist has a first go at the Paganini theme that Rachmaninoff puts through endlessly inventive variations, Mr. Trifonov played with subdued sound and seductive mystery. Even when the music broke into intricate passagework and brilliant flourishes, Mr. Trifonov demonstrated crisp brio and an ear for detail, though there was plenty of fiery virtuosity as well.
His account of the Second Concerto was also unusual for its transparency and sensitivity. There was not one bombastic moment, hard to avoid in this piece, which is at times dense with repeated chords and bursts of octaves. In passage after passage, Mr. Trifonov seemed swept up in the moment, even if it meant slowing down considerably to explore some wondrous touch in the music. The result was a performance that lacked some measure of overall structure. Still, Mr. Trifonov took us on a bracing walk through the work, and it was a joy to pause with him as he pondered something beautiful.
To his credit, Mr. Trifonov will not just play orchestral programs but will also take part in a Rachmaninoff chamber music concert on Nov. 22 presented by the Philharmonic and the 92nd Street Y. And to kick off this Rachmaninoff festival, on Tuesday night at Merkin Concert Hall, the New York Festival of Song presented “From Russia to Riverside Drive,” a program mostly devoted to his songs. The pianists Steven Blier and Michael Barrett accompanied two fine singers — the soprano Dina Kuznetsova and the baritone Shea Owens — in both classics and rarities.
Mr. Trifonov’s one miscalculation, so far, was his solo encore on Wednesday. After playing such admirably tasteful Rachmaninoff, he offered his own shamelessly flashy arrangement of Strauss’s Overture to “Die Fledermaus.” Why not a Rachmaninoff prelude or étude?
RACHMANINOFF: A PHILHARMONIC FESTIVAL, Featuring Daniil Trifonov, Begins Tonight
Daniil Trifonov made his Philharmonic debut in the 2012-13 season performing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, led by Alan Gilbert. He returned in the 2014-15 season to perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1, led by Juanjo Mena. The New York Times wrote of that performance: "His sound bright and lean at the start, he brought out the work's focus, even as he gave the impression of flexibility. In the first movement, confidently varying the pulse, he wove his lines around the orchestra's. The great solo melody near the start of the slow second movement had a wandering if attentive feel, as if it were an impromptu, and Mr. Trifonov's sound took on a calm lucidity but without a hint of chill. In the finale, he gave his tone silky diaphanousness, keeping a quality of roundedness even in Rachmaninoff's most pounding runs."
"Daniil Trifonov plays with a technical ability that is jaw-dropping: he can do anything he wants, and his playing can be mysterious and captivating," said Music Director Alan Gilbert. "He wraps you around his finger and brings you along on a wild, fantastic, and sometimes terrifying journey. Exploring Rachmaninoff's breathtakingly difficult but beautifully expressive repertoire through Daniil's performances is sure to be an adventure."
"My Philharmonic debut was a special experience and a great honor. I was captivated by the energy, and it was really enjoyable music-making," said Daniil Trifonov. "The Rachmaninoff cycle will be an exciting adventure. Each of his concertos has a particular atmosphere: in the Second Concerto, his suffering gave birth to amazing music; the first movement of the Third Concerto is one of the most substantial works he ever wrote; the harmonic courage of the Fourth Concerto, where he searches for a new language, is captivating; and in the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini there is a sense of something lost and a sense of perfection."
Rachmaninoff himself appeared as a soloist with either the New York Philharmonic or the New York Symphony (the two orchestras that merged in 1928 to form the modern Philharmonic) in 41 performances between 1909 and 1942, including numerous performances of his concertos.
In the festival's opening orchestral program, Daniil Trifonov is spotlighted in both Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Piano Concerto No. 2, and the Orchestra performs The Isle of the Dead, conducted by Cristian Macelaru in his Philharmonic debut. Rachmaninoff was soloist with the Philharmonic for the New York Premiere of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in 1934. The composer was also the soloist for the 1901 World Premiere, in Moscow, of his Piano Concerto No. 2.
Artists
Combining consummate technique with rare sensitivity, Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov has made a spectacular ascent to classical stardom. Since taking First Prize at both the Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein competitions in 2011 at the age of 20, he has appeared with most of the world's foremost orchestras and given solo recitals at many of its most prestigious venues. Following the release of Rachmaninov Variations, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon with The Philadelphia Orchestra, in the 2015-16 season Mr. Trifonov is spotlighted in both the New York Philharmonic's Rachmaninoff: A Philharmonic Festival and the Philharmonia Orchestra's Rachmaninov Piano Concerto Cycle. He also plays Rachmaninoff concertos in debuts with the Berlin Staatskapelle, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (where he anchors the Nobel Prize Concert), Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, and Orchestre National de Lyon, and on the Czech Philharmonic's tour of Asia. He is performing Prokofiev in his Montreal Symphony debut and returns to the Orchestre National de France and London Symphony Orchestra, and Chopin with the San Francisco Symphony, Tchaikovsky with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Milan's Teatro alla Scala, and Liszt with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at home and on a North European tour. An accomplished composer, Mr. Trifonov reprises his own acclaimed piano concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony. In addition to making his Los Angeles recital debut, he undertakes a European recital tour and residencies in Lugano and at London's Wigmore Hall. Last season saw the release of Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital, the pianist's first recording as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, which scored a Grammy nomination and an ECHO Klassik Award. His discography also features a Chopin album for Decca and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra. Born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1991, Daniil Trifonov studied at Moscow's Gnessin School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2013 he won Italy's Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Instrumental Soloist. Daniil Trifonov made his New York Philharmonic debut in September 2012 performing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, led by Music Director Alan Gilbert. During the 2014-15 season he returned to perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Philharmonic, led by Juanjo Mena.
Winner of the 2014 Solti Conducting Award, Cristian Ma?celaru is conductor-in-residence of The Philadelphia Orchestra, with which he made his unexpected subscription debut in April 2013. He has since conducted four of its subscription programs, and leads another in the 2015- 16 season. Other season highlights include his Lincoln Center debut at the Mostly Mozart Festival, as well as this New York Philharmonic debut. He returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and National Symphony Orchestra. Internationally, he makes debuts with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National, Dublin's RTE National Symphony, and Tokyo's Metropolitan Symphony orchestras. In North America, his debuts include the Atlanta, Cincinnati, New World, and San Diego symphony orchestras, Minnesota Orchestra, and National Arts Centre Orchestra. Cristian Ma?celaru made his first appearance at Carnegie Hall in 2012, leading a work alongside Valery Gergiev in a Georg Solti Centennial Celebration, and in 2015 he made his full Carnegie debut leading the Danish National Symphony Orchestra with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. In June 2015 he made his Cincinnati Opera debut in highly acclaimed performances of Verdi's Il Trovatore. An accomplished violinist from an early age, Christian Ma?celaru was the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Miami Symphony Orchestra, and played in the first violin section of the Houston Symphony for two seasons. After participating in the conducting programs of the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival and School, he received the Sir Georg Solti Emerging Conductor Award in 2012. He completed undergraduate studies in violin performance at the University of Miami and subsequently studied with Larry Rachleff at Rice University, where he received master's degrees in conducting and violin performance.
Repertoire, November 14
Rachmaninoff composed The Isle of the Dead in 1909, inspired by Arnold Bocklin's famous symbolist painting of the same name. The painting depicts a mysterious, dreamlike island with high rock cliffs containing burial chambers, where a boat navigated by a black-clad helmsman is conveying an enshrouded passenger to the shore. Rachmaninoff's symphonic poem creates a similarly ominous atmosphere. The score is built on a slowly rocking motif that suggests the quiet lapping of the water and the inexorable progression of the boat. The composer also quotes the somber motivic theme of the Dies irae, the melody used in the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead. The New York Philharmonic first performed the work in January 1919, led by Joseph Stransky; it was most recently performed in June 2011, conducted by David Robertson.
In 1934 Rachmaninoff used the last of Niccolo Paganini's notoriously difficult 24 Caprices for Solo Violin (1805) as the basis for his 24 variations for piano and orchestra, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Rachmaninoff premiered the work with The Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski shortly after its completion, and it became his signature piece, which he performed often and to great acclaim. A pianist known for his long, slender fingers and formidable hand span (which reached a 13-note interval), even he admitted this work was a challenge: "The composition is very difficult, and I should start practicing it." The 24 variations fall into roughly three movement-like groups: Variations 1-11, 12-18, and the final 19-24. Highlights include the 7th, with its echoes of the medieval chant Dies irae (Day of Wrath); the ultra-romantic 18th, which is Paganini's theme turned upside down; and the conclusion, which wraps up a bombastic finale with a sly, soft "curlicue." Rachmaninoff himself was the soloist for the Philharmonic's first performance of the Rhapsody for its 1934 New York Premiere, led by Bruno Walter. Most recently, Bramwell Tovey conducted the work with the Philharmonic featuring Anne-Marie McDermott as soloist in July 2015 during the Orchestra's annual Bravo! Vail summer residency.
After the dismal reception received by his Symphony No. 1 in 1897, Rachmaninoff (still in his early 20s) began to give more emphasis to his career as a concert pianist and conductor. For a few years we would attempt a return to composition, but with mixed results. Then, in 1901, he finally produced the Piano Concerto No. 2, which has become one of the most celebrated piano concertos of the 20th century. Asked about this sudden reversal of fortune, the composer said he had undergone hypnotherapy. The work was the first in a string of triumphs that continued with the Symphony No. 2 and the Piano Concerto No. 3. The Piano Concerto No. 2 was first performed by the New York Symphony (which would merge with the New York Philharmonic in 1928 to form today's New York Philharmonic) in December 1914, led by Walter Damrosch, with Ossip Gabrilowitsch as soloist; the Philharmonic most recently performed it in December 2012, led by Juraj Valc?uha and featuring Andre? Watts as soloist.
Daniil Trifonov, the 24-Year-Old Wunderkind, Comes to the New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is devoting the last half of November to the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943), and the star chosen for this special festival isDaniil Trifonov,the 24-year-old, mop-headed Russian pianist-composer who sprang to international recognition in 2011, when he won both the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition, in Moscow, and first prize at the Rubinstein Competition, in Tel Aviv. Since then, he has been a guest artist with most of the leading orchestras in America and Europe; the Deutsche Grammophon recording of his 2014 Carnegie Hall recital was nominated for a Grammy; and his virtuosic technique has been compared routinely with that of Vladimir Horowitz and Franz Liszt.
Between November 11 and 28, Trifonov will give multiple performances of Rachmaninoff’s second, third, and fourth piano concertos as well as his “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for Piano and Orchestra.” (He played the first piano concerto last year with the Philharmonic.) He will also present a program of chamber music by the composer with members of the orchestra at the 92nd Street Y. The day before the festival began, at the WQXR Greene Space in Hudson Square, Trifonov played Rachmaninoff’s “Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos” with Sergei Babayan, his teacher at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where Trifonov has spent the last seven years earning his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Trifonov concluded that program with a composition of his own called “Rachmaniana.” In the past year he has performed all four Rachmaninoff concertos in London, and he is now in the process of recording them for Deutsche Grammophon with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra, following their release, in August, of Rachmaninov Variations.
Trifonov talked informally with me at the Gramercy Tavern the day before his first concert with the Philharmonic. He started performing professionally when he was 8, and at 17 he left Moscow, at the suggestion of his teacher there, to study with Babayan in Cleveland. Up to then he had never played the music of Rachmaninoff, but Babayan considered him perfect for it. Rachmaninoff left Russia after the 1917 revolution, and he lived for many years in the United States, where he developed a close friendship with Horowitz. The composer was also a virtuoso pianist, and his recordings from as early as 1924 are still available. Trifonov described Rachmaninoff’s keyboard artistry as being extremely focused on finding the dramatic center of a piece. Trifonov’s technical mastery of such difficult composers as Liszt, for example, is well known. He explained that playing Rachmaninoff requires a certain emotional preparation from deep inside. Liszt is about the hands and fingers, he said. But for Rachmanifoff he has to feel the energy come all the way from the spine, through the shoulders. “I can almost compare it to swimming,” he said.
How about stage fright? Questioned on the subject at WQXR, Babayon said that every performer has it before every performance: the fear of forgetting, of going blank. I asked Trifonov if he ever uses scores in performance. “Only with chamber music,” he said.
Does he ever relax? “I like hiking, wherever I am,” he said. He also apparently likes movies. He said that he and his girlfriend, who is also a pianist, were going that evening—the evening before his first performance—to see Spectre.
Combining consummate technique with rare sensitivity, Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov has made a spectacular ascent to classical stardom. Since taking First Prize at both the Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein competitions in 2011 at the age of 20, he has appeared with most of the world’s foremost orchestras and given solo recitals at many of its most prestigious venues.
Following the release of Rachmaninov Variations, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon with The Philadelphia Orchestra, in the 2015–16 season Mr. Trifonov is spotlighted in both the New York Philharmonic’s Rachmaninoff: A Philharmonic Festival and the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Rachmaninov Piano Concerto Cycle. He also plays Rachmaninoff concertos in debuts with the Berlin Staatskapelle, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (where he anchors the Nobel Prize Concert), Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, and Orchestre National de Lyon, and on the Czech Philharmonic’s tour of Asia. He is performing Prokofiev in his Montreal Symphony debut and returns to the Orchestre National de France and London Symphony Orchestra, and Chopin with the San Francisco Symphony, Tchaikovsky with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, and Liszt with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at home and on a North European tour. An accomplished composer, Mr. Trifonov reprises his own acclaimed piano concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony. In addition to making his Los Angeles recital debut, he undertakes a European recital tour and residencies in Lugano and at London’s Wigmore Hall.
Last season saw the release of Trifonov: The Carnegie Recital, the pianist’s first recording as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, which scored a Grammy nomination and an ECHO Klassik Award. His discography also features a Chopin album for Decca and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra.
Born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1991, Daniil Trifonov studied at Moscow’s Gnessin School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2013 he won Italy’s Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Instrumental Soloist.
Winner of the 2014 Solti Conducting Award, Cristian Măcelaru is conductor-in-residence of The Philadelphia Orchestra, with which he made his unexpected subscription debut in April 2013. He has since conducted four of its subscription programs, and leads another in the 2015–16 season. Other season highlights include his Lincoln Center debut at the Mostly Mozart Festival, as well as this New York Philharmonic debut. He returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and National Symphony Orchestra. Internationally, he makes debuts with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National, Dublin’s RTE National Symphony, and Tokyo’s Metropolitan Symphony orchestras. In North America, his debuts include the Atlanta, Cincinnati, New World, and San Diego symphony orchestras, Minnesota Orchestra, and National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Cristian Măcelaru made his first appearance at Carnegie Hall in 2012, leading a work alongside Valery Gergiev in a Georg Solti Centennial Celebration, and in 2015 he made his full Carnegie debut leading the Danish National Symphony Orchestra with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. In June 2015 he made his Cincinnati Opera debut in highly acclaimed performances of Verdi’s Il Trovatore.
An accomplished violinist from an early age, Christian Măcelaru was the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Miami Symphony Orchestra, and played in the first violin section of the Houston Symphony for two seasons. After participating in the conducting programs of the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival and School, he received the Sir Georg Solti Emerging Conductor Award in 2012. He completed undergraduate studies in violin performance at the University of Miami and subsequently studied with Larry Rachleff at Rice University, where he received master’s degrees in conducting and violin performance.
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