Trifonov falls sick in concert. Conductor thinks fast

Conductor Karina Canellakis was making her debut with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal last night when she was told just before the concert that piano soloist Daniil Trifonov had fallen ill and been taken to hospital.

The programme was Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde excerts and Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra in the first half, with Trifonov in Rachmaninov’s 3rd piano concerto after the break.

Here’s how it ended, according to a post from double-bass Scott Feltham:

Daniil Trifonov, tonight’s scheduled piano soloist, became suddenly ill just before the beginning of the concert and had to be taken to the hospital. … Instead, Madeleine Careau, our CEO, announced Trifonov’s illness and the resulting change in program. We performed Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. Cold. No rehearsing. In front of 2,000-ish people. Bravo to all my colleagues. Bravo especially to maestra Karina Canellakis, conducting us for the first time. Time for a beer.