What piano recitals were like before artists listened to agents
mainFrom the Lebrecht Album of the Week:
… it would be absurd to expect Trifonov to release a conventional Chopin album of two concertos and some scattered Polonaises. What he offers here are the E minor and F minor concertos, accompanied by the Maher Chamber Orchestra, conductor Mikhail Pletnev, together with a flush of solo reflections by Chopin on other composers, and other composers on Chopin. It’s a challenging and completely original setting for the Chopin concertos and it left me pretty much jaw-dropped from start to finish….
Read on here.
And here.
And here.
you have said what was at the tip of my tongue ( first I read your blog’s topic, then Toronto’s article) . Trifonov is a Chopin’s man , and all of king’s horses cannot have him get out of that way 😉 just my opinion, of course
P.S. Exclusively for Olassus and Mr.Monster – Elena Stikhina is a total success at Boston, as far as I could understand their hint ( on their FaceBook page)- they try to find some distant parallels with La Divina – and she deserves that. In other words ( with a lesser pomp) – critics are benevolent to her and there is something to do so ( to sing Tosca at 30 is great, to sing like she does is just awesome 😉 … if someone wants to read Boston’s critiques – please go to BLO facebook page – all the references are there … Next Prodigy’s performances are to be in Mexico city ( Desdemona). Just F.Y.I.
Good for her!
good to hear from you 😉
Glad to hear of prodigy’s success as Tosca. Not on Facebook so must wait for something to surface elsewhere hopefully. So now some are trying the tired old routine of creating another Callas, I see. Since prodigy will soon be performing in Mexico City it gives this group another opportunity to manufacture a myth and a legend, I guess. Question remains: will prodigy interpolate a high E somewhere in Desdemona’s music to help seal her fate, fame and fortune? (((-:
1. http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2017/10/14/blo-opens-its-new-season-with-robust-tosca/ECJgsmpfLeHl6oJuk6bdIL/story.html?event=event25%3Fevent%3Devent25
2. http://bostonclassicalreview.com/2017/10/two-superb-debuts-spark-blos-traditional-tosca/
Those are a couple of references for you.
In my opinion , nobody wants to have “another La Divina”, it would be much better to have “La Belle Hélène ” who opera world desperately needs nowadays. As they say her voice is “riveting” ( I can guess an american equivalent for “captivating”) and I am totally with them. As for that high E – actually she has power and capacity to do that, the question is – what psychological ( emotional) prism of her personality will she use to interpret vocal line – cause, as you know, personal attitude is all for the best singers, they never copy others, they give their own reading. So-to-speak – they break stereotypes – That’s why people remember them …. just my opinion, of course (some say I am smart 😉 😉 😉 )
Thank you for the review links. Let’s soon get prodigy up on more important stages.
I find it an exceptional album top to bottom. Trifonov plays like an angel. So absorbing I can hardly listen to anything else.
Great to see the charming Mompou getting an airing, but pity that there wasn’t room for Busoni’s Chopin variations.
Even F.Busoni was teaching at Moscow conservatory, his piano music ignored and unknown, even to D.Trifonov
Trifanov’s playing is extraordinarily beautiful, and exceptionally controlled. But just a couple comments.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the re-orchestration of the concertos by Pletnev. I like them in general but they take a little getting used to. The problem they present is in the E minor concerto where the expanded winds, together with a slowish tempo gives the opening a heaviness that works against the flow. That said, what is really odd is the variation in tempi in the first movement. The first third or so is slow and heavy-ish but then it ramps up a bit, then ramps up a bit more to the point it’s really fast. Then, at the end it slows down again. It’s really odd and I’m not sure what the structural or musical purpose of this is.
The slow movement is unspeakably beautiful and the orchestra sounds wonderful. For this piece, one might also look up the recording by Halina Czerny-Stefanska that for many years was marketed by EMI as being by Dinu Lipatti. It’s really perfect in every way – at least to my ears.
I liked all the variations a lot. The concerti and fantaisie, not so much.
Wouldn’t say he is a particularily strong Chopinist either…