Daniil Olegovich Trifonov (Russian: Дании́л Оле́гович Три́фонов; born 5 March 1991) is a Russian pianist and composer. Described byThe Globe and Mail as "arguably today's leading classical virtuoso"[1] and by The Timesas "without question the most astounding pianist of our age",[2] Trifonov's honors include a Grammy Award win and the Gramophone Classical Music Awards' Artist of the Year Award. He has performed as soloist with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic,Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra,Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, and the Munich Philharmonic, and has given solo recitals in such venues asRoyal Festival Hall, Carnegie Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,Berliner Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Concertgebouw, and the Seoul Arts Center. In 2011, he won the First Prize and Grand Prix at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in addition to the First Prize at theArthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, and in 2010 was a prizewinner at the International Chopin Piano Competition.
Early life and education[edit]
Trifonov was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Soviet Union on 5 March 1991. An only child,[3] his father was a composer and his mother a music teacher.[4] He began studying the piano at the age of five, and gave his first solo concert at seven. When Trifonov was eight years old, he gave his first performance with an orchestra in a Mozart concerto, losing one of his baby teeth during the performance. In 2000, the family moved to Moscow, and Trifonov began studying under Tatiana Zelikman [ru] at the Gnessin School of Music.[5][6][7] In 2009, at the recommendation of Tatiana Zelikman, Trifonov commenced studies with Sergei Babayan at the Cleveland Institute of Music,[8] receiving an Artist Certificate in 2013 and an Artist Diploma in 2015.[9] While at the Cleveland Institute of Music, he was also was a composition student of Keith Fitch.[10]
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Trifonov at
Carnegie Hall in 2017
At the age of 17 Trifonov won Fifth Prize at the 4th International Scriabin Competition in Moscow, and First Prize at the 3rd International Piano Competition of San Marino, where he also received the Special Prize for the best performance of Chick Corea’s composition "Afterthought"[11][12]
In 2010 he played at the Rathausplatz in Vienna's Town Hall Square as one of the seven finalists of theEurovision Young Musicians.[13] In 2010, Trifonov became a medalist of the distinguished XVI International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where he won Third Prize and the Special Prize of Polish Radio for the best mazurka performance.[14][15]
In 2011 he won the First Prize at the 13th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, winning also the Pnina Salzman Prize for the Best Performer of a Chopin piece, the Prize for the Best Performer of Chamber Music and the Audience Favorite Prize.[16]
A few weeks after winning the Rubinstein Competition, Trifonov was awarded the First Prize, Gold Medal, and Grand Prix at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Trifonov also won the Audience Award and the Award for the Best Performance of a Chamber Concerto.[17]
In February 2013 Trifonov made his debut at Carnegie Hall in a concert recorded byDeutsche Grammophon for an album release later that year.[18] Also in 2013 he was awarded the remio Franco Abbiati della critica musicale italiana" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background: none;">Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Instrumental Soloist by Italy’s foremost music critics. Previous recipients of the prestigious award include such keyboard giants asMaurizio Pollini, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Sviatoslav Richter, Radu Lupu, and András Schiff. On 23 April 2014 he premiered his Piano Concerto in E flat minor.[19]
In 2016 he was awarded two British prestigious awards: Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2016 - Artist of the Year and RPS Music Awards - Instrumentalist. In 2017 Trifonov was awarded one of the most significant awards in musical performance, the Herbert von Karajan Prize at the Salzburg Easter Festival.[20]
Discography[edit]
Reviews[edit]
Pianist Martha Argerich told the Financial Times in 2011 that Trifonov had "everything and more", adding that "What he does with his hands is technically incredible. It’s also his touch – he has tenderness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that".[21]
The Tchaikovsky piano concerto recording was described by "International Piano" magazine as "A simply remarkable disc ... Daniil Trifonov's playing is a heady mix of super-virtuoso and the ability to generate the utmost tenderness ... He demonstrates an enviable variety of touch and shading ... the couplings are as intelligent as they are magnificent".[22]
The BBC Radio 3 CD Review programme of 10 August 2013 opined that: "Now the 21-year-old pianist is obviously the real deal, this isn't all flash and dash although there's plenty of both as you all hear but listen out for the expressiveness of Trifonov's approach, the way he plays with the tempo and keeps some of his powder dry for the coda where he almost leaves the orchestra trailing in his wake, and they sound as if they're having a ball as well."[23]
In 2017, Alex Ross, the music critic of The New Yorker wrote:
…Daniil Trifonov creates a furor. …[as did] Vladimir Horowitz…, Paderewski…,Sviatoslav Richter, the young Martha Argerich, and the young Evgeny Kissin… Furor pianists exhibit intelligence as well as dexterity; they often make curious interpretive choices that cause head-shaking at intermission. They give a hint of the unearthly, the diabolical.… Trifonov has a rare combination of monstrous technique and lustrous tone. The characteristic Trifonov effect is a rapid, glistening flurry of notes that hardly seems to involve the mechanical action of hammers and strings.[24]
Personal life[edit]
Trifonov has established a home in New York City.[25] In 2017, Trifonov married Judith Ramirez, who works in publishing.[26][27][28][29][30]
