Daniil Trifonov, Chopin Evocations, the making of

Sometimes I need time and a bit of distance to appreciate the meaning of some musical projects I do as part of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

For instance, the recording of Chopin piano concertos with Daniil Trifonov and Mikhail Pletnev, which took place nearly a year ago in Dortmund.

One aspect is of course the time delay between the recording itself and the release of the CD. Several months, an eternity in our fast consuming art world, which forces us to slow down, reevaluate, rediscover, and offers us a different perspective on our own music making.

It was also a project of first times. First time playing with the pianist Daniil Trifonov, first time with the conductor Mikhail Pletnev, and first time playing Chopin’s piano concertos in the revised version by Mikhail Pletnev himself.

But above all, what strikes me most as I listen to the recording, is the genius of Daniil Trifonov, his poetry and ultra sensitive concert performances.

I would like to present here some images taken in Dortmund almost a year ago, a behind the scenes reportage, the making of the now celebrated CHOPIN EVOCATIONS album.

 

Dortmund

The recording for Deutsche Grammophon took place at the Konzerthaus Dortmund, our long term partner for ambitious musical projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniil Trifonov and Mikhail Pletnev, common ground

Both won Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition at the age of 21.

Pletnev taught Trifonov’s teacher, Sergei Babayan in the early 1980s.

“That makes him a bit like my musical forefather,” says Trifonov.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniil Trifonov and Sid McLauchlan, producer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the piano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A documentary is still available on the Deutsche Welle website (multimedia center):

http://www.dw.com/de/ein-neuer-chopin-1/av-42230548 (part 1)

http://www.dw.com/de/ein-neuer-chopin-2/av-42286465 (part 2)