This piano recital in the Isarphilharmonie begins quietly, murmuring as if in a dream, with the A minor suite from the “Premier livre de pièces de clavecin” by Jean-Philippe Rameau. Where other pianists would emphasize the dance characters or perhaps the rhythms, Daniil Trifonov plays impressionistically, interspersing ornaments as if at random, then adding increasingly hard bass accents that are not intended to be contrapuntal, but provide an increase. This is unusual and demanding, as is the entire program composition, in which Rameau is followed by Mozart’s F major sonata KV 332. Trifonov captures all the cuteness that tends to accompany performances of Mozart’s piano sonatas on the Steinway, using fine tempo modulations or timbres. For example, when he doesn’t sing out the melodic line in the slow movement, but rather exhibits it like a found object covered in fine wax, the virtuosity of the third movement seemingly taken care of in passing.
Munich: Daniil Trifonov in the Isarphilharmonie – Munich
