Daniil Trifonov, Piano
Please note that this evening’s performance now includes Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a Theme of Corelli in place of Barber’s Piano Sonata. The rest of the program remains unchanged.
Performers
Daniil Trifonov, Piano
Program
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Op. 80
CHOPIN Waltz in E Major, Op. posth.
CHOPIN Waltz in F Minor, Op. 70, No. 2
CHOPIN Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 3
CHOPIN Waltz in D-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1, "Minute"
CHOPIN Waltz in A Minor, Op. 34, No. 2
CHOPIN Waltz in E Minor, Op. posth.
RACHMANINOFF Variations on a Theme of Corelli
TCHAIKOVSKY Concert Suite from The Sleeping Beauty (arr. Mikhail Pletnev)
Encores:
GREEN "I Cover the Waterfront" (arr. Tatum/Daniil Trifonov)
LANDESTOY Val de Santo Domingo
JEREMY SOULE "Secunda" from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (arr. Daniil Trifonov)
Event Duration
The printed program will last approximately two hours, including one 20-minute intermission.At a Glance
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Op. posth.
Tchaikovsky’s Romanticism was firmly grounded in tradition: Mozart was one of his favorite composers. This early sonata illustrates his lifelong search for what he called “the higher artistic truth which springs from the mysterious depths of man’s creative power and pours out into clear, intelligible, conventional forms.”
CHOPIN Selected Waltzes
Chopin’s 20-odd waltzes encapsulate his revolutionary approach to the keyboard, from the melancholy languor of the Waltz in A Minor, Op. 34, No. 2, to the scintillating, perpetual motion–style fireworks of the famous “Minute” Waltz. The latter is known in France as the “Puppy” Waltz, a titular forebear of the jazz standard “Kitten on the Keys.”
RACHMANINOFF Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42
The Variations on a Theme of Corelli, which Rachmaninoff wrote in Switzerland in the summer of 1931, are dedicated to Fritz Kreisler and may have been inspired by the violinist’s own set of variations on a different Corelli theme. The theme that Rachmaninoff attributed to Corelli is in fact a plaintive D-minor melody based on a standard chord progression known as the “folia,” which the Italian master used in a set of violin variations published in 1700.
TCHAIKOVSKY Concert Suite from The Sleeping Beauty (arr. Mikhail Pletnev)
The second of Tchaikovsky’s three full-length ballets, The Sleeping Beauty was immediately recognized as a musical and dramatic masterpiece. In transcribing 11 numbers from the orchestral score for solo piano, the contemporary Russian pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev preserved the work’s kaleidoscopic colors and many of its most captivating melodies.