Exclusive: Daniil Trifonov plays full recital with a damaged wrist

Green room visitors at the Wigmore Hall were shocked to find that the recitalist had played a full programme with one wrist in surgical strapping. But nothing stops Trifonov when he’s on fire.

It appears that he’d suffered a fall while on a photoshoot in Cologne, hurting his right hand. By the time his plane landed in London, he was in acute pain. On Saturday, his friend and piano supplier Terry Lewis took him to A&E. They found nothing broken, but damage to the soft tissue. An orthopaedic specialist was called on the phone to advise, but Daniil was determined to go ahead with the recital come what may. It was a rare four-hander with his teacher, Sergei Babayan.

Later, Daniil told visitors that they had shifted some heavier passages onto Babayan to reduce pressure on his wrist, but no-one noticed.

Erica Worth, editor of Pianist magazine (who took the pictures!), writes:

‘Two astounding musicians, Rachmaninov Suites to die for, Two Faziolis that sounded amazing – and tuned to perfection. A real rare event. In the third movement of the first suite, I was in tears.’