Part of: Perspectives: Daniil Trifonov
Perspectives: Daniil Trifonov
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Chopin is so intimately associated with the culture and society of 19th-century Paris that it’s easy to forget he lived there, on and off, for less than two decades. In recent years, scholars have devoted much effort to uncovering the roots of Chopin’s art in his native Poland and exploring his relationship with the Polish émigré community in Paris. His friendship with the exiled poet Adam Mickiewicz, a fervent nationalist, fortified his enthusiasm for Polish independence in the wake of the abortive uprising against Russian rule in 1830. It is against this backdrop that the two earliest works on tonight’s program—the Piano Concerto No. 2, and the Introduction and Polonaise brillante for cello and piano—must be considered.
By the mid-1840s, the youthful exuberance captured in the “brilliant style” of the music Chopin wrote in the course of transplanting himself from Warsaw to Paris had given way to the richer, mellower, and more complex style of his later works. Both the Cello Sonata and the Nocturne in E Major took shape under the shadow of Chopin’s worsening consumption and his disintegrating romantic relationship with novelist George Sand. (The E-Major Nocturne and the Piano Concerto No. 2 will be heard tonight in chamber-orchestra arrangements by contemporary Russian composers Victor Kissine and Yevgeny Sharlat, respectively.) Taken together, these four works validate Robert Schumann’s praise of Chopin as “the boldest and proudest poetic spirit of the time.”
Grammy Award–winning Russian pianist and winner of Gramophone’s 2016 Artist of the Year award, Daniil Trifonov has made a spectacular ascent in the world of classical music as a solo artist, composer, champion of the concerto repertoire, and collaborator at the keyboard in chamber music and song. The Times (London) calls Mr. Trifonov “without question the most astounding pianist of our age.” His album Transcendental won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.
Focusing on Chopin during the 2017–2018 season, Mr. Trifonov releases Chopin Evocations—his fourth album as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist—marking his first foray into a new repertoire with works of 20th-century composers who were greatly influenced by the Polish master, including Samuel Barber and Frederic Mompou.
Mr. Trifonov gives more than 20 performances on this theme across the US, Europe, and Asia, including three as part of his self-curated, seven-concert Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall. Additional concerts in the series include a recital with Matthias Goerne; a collaboration with Mr. Trifonov’s teacher Sergei Babayan; a performance of Mr. Trifonov’s own Piano Concerto with Valery Gergiev leading the Mariinsky Orchestra, culminating another US tour; and a solo recital in Zankel Hall that includes a seminal piece from each decade of the 20th century. Mr. Trifonov curates a similar series this season at Vienna’s Konzerthaus, as well as in San Francisco, concluding with a season-closing Rachmaninoff performance with the San Francisco Symphony.
Additional highlights of the 2017–2018 season include European tours with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, as well as with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala. Mr. Trifonov’s orchestral appearances include Strauss’s Burleske with the Orquesta Nacional de España and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Orchestra and the Berliner Philharmoniker; Scriabin’s Piano Concerto with the Seattle Symphony; a performance of his own Piano Concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Prokofiev with the Mariinsky Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra; and Rachmaninoff with the Munich Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Gautier Capuçon is a true 21st-century ambassador for the cello. Performing each season with many of the world’s foremost conductors and instrumentalists, he established and leads the Classe d’Excellence de Violoncelle at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, based in the stunning new auditorium designed by Frank Gehry. He is acclaimed internationally for his deeply expressive musicianship and exuberant virtuosity, as well as for the glorious sonority of his 1701 Matteo Goffriller cello.
A frequent recital and chamber musician, Mr. Capuçon appears annually in the world’s major concert halls and at esteemed international festivals. Highlights this season include a return to Carnegie Hall (with Daniil Trifonov), an extensive international recital tour with duo partner Jérôme Ducros in support of the international release of the album Intuition, and performances at the Verbier Festival with Lisa Batiashvili, Christoph Eschenbach, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Yuja Wang, and Tabea Zimmermann. Other artists with whom Mr. Capuçon regularly performs include Nicholas Angelich, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Frank Braley, Renaud Capuçon, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Menahem Pressler, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and the Artemis and Ebène quartets.
As a concerto soloist, Mr. Capuçon continues to work with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Semyon Bychkov, Valery Gergiev, Gustavo Dudamel, Lionel Bringuier, Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In the 2017–2018 season, he appears with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Lyon, Philharmonia Orchestra, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, and China NCPA Orchestra.
Mr. Capuçon has won multiple ECHO Klassik awards and has an extensive discography, including concerto, recital, and chamber recordings. His latest album, Intuition, was released in February 2018, and was recorded with pianist Jérôme Ducros and the Orchestre de chamber de Paris conducted by Douglas Boyd. Born in Chambéry in 1981, Mr. Capuçon began playing the cello at the age of five. The first-prize winner in many leading international competitions, including the International André Navarra Cello Competition, he was honored with the award for new talent by Victoires de la Musique in 2001.
Gidon Kremer created ideal conditions for a musical revolution 20 years ago. The internationally acclaimed violinist unveiled his new initiative at Austria’s Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival in the summer of 1997. The birth of Kremerata Baltica—comprising 23 outstanding young musicians from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia—was greeted with a standing ovation. The orchestra has since captivated audiences worldwide with playing of unrestrained joy and programming of limitless imagination.
Kremerata Baltica arose from Mr. Kremer’s determination to share his rich experience with young colleagues from the Baltic States. The ensemble’s preparation process, which allows no room for artistic compromise, is ruled by a commitment to excellence and creative daring. In addition to exploring works from the mainstream repertoire, Kremerata Baltica also has given world premieres of compositions by Lera Auerbach, Leonid Desyatnikov, Giya Kancheli, Arvo Pärt, Georgs Pēlecis, Alexander Raskatov, Valentin Silvestrov, Victor Kissine, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Pēteris Vasks, among others.
Kremerata Baltica’s breadth of repertoire is reflected in an award-winning discography. After Mozart (Nonesuch Records) won Grammy and ECHO Klassik awards in 2002, while albums of works by Enescu and Weinberg have since earned Grammy nominations.
Kremerata Baltica has performed in over 50 countries, presenting more than 1,000 concerts in 600 cities. The ensemble has broadened its work in recent years to include To Russia with Love, a concert staged at Berlin’s Philharmonie in 2013 to promote the cause of human rights in Russia; its latest creative project, Pictures from the East, is a collaborative venture with Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr to highlight the desperate plight of refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East.
Since 2003, Kremerata Baltica has held its own festival in the Latvian hillside town of Sigulda. Kremerata Baltica celebrated its 20th anniversary and Mr. Kremer’s 70th birthday year in 2016–2017 with a nine-concert tour to the US and an extensive anniversary tour to Europe under Mr. Kremer’s leadership.
Kremerata Baltica and Gidon Kremer are proud cultural ambassadors from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, celebrating the centenaries of the three Baltic States.
For more information, visit kremeratabaltica.com.
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