The second installment in Daniil Trifonov’s Rachmaninov piano concerto series is even finer than the splendid first. The Third Concerto is played with terrific virtuosity and fire, full of surging passion but also with loads of personality. The less-often-encountered First is also beautifully done, Trifonov clearly drawn to its not-so-obvious charms. Under the hugely musical Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the fabulous Philadelphia Orchestra—the Rachmaninov ensemble par excellence—add their mastery to this music-making. Trifonov’s own solo piano contributions are superb, especially his gorgeous and sparkling vision of the silver bells from Rachmaninov’s cantata The Bells. A really impressive achievement.
- Anne-Sophie Mutter, Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim & West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
- Isabelle Faust, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Daniel Harding
- Kian Soltani, Lahav Shani & Renaud Capuçon
- Lisa Batiashvili, Staatskapelle Berlin & Daniel Barenboim
- Yuja Wang, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Kurt Masur, Kirill Troussov, David Aaron Carpenter, Maxim Rysanov, Sol Gabetta & Leigh Mesh
- Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Yuja Wang & Gustavo Dudamel