The Whole Music Experience

Daniil Trifonov, Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Orchestra Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 Mariinsky label Distributor--Harmonia Mundi While I returned to college in 2007, I relied on classical music for memory retention and for stress-reduction.   I recall listening to the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto, No. 1, along with pieces by Mozart.   The famous concerto seemed as familiar to my ears as melodies from the composer’s Nutcracker Suite .   Now, I’m listening to a new recording by a young Russian virtuoso Daniil Trifonov, who also performs songs by Schubert, Schumann, and Chopin’s Barcarolle .   Certainly, I feel impressed with Trifonov’s wide emotional palette and great dexterity as he interprets Romantic era music representing several countries.   Joining with the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev (no stranger to me), the program’s focus on the recording, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 , lands on the piano...

Shostakovich Piano Concertos Alexander Melnikov Mahler Chamber Orchestra Harmonia Mundi Russian composers came to my attention during the past decade, with the wild piano concertos of Rachmaninoff to the playful and provocative works by Prokofiev.  Now I am listening to early piano concertos by Dmitry Shostakovich as they appear on Shostakovich Piano Concertos and Sonata for Violin and Piano op. 134 as performed by Alexander Melnikov (piano), Isabelle Faust (violin), Jeroen Berwaerts (trumpet), and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra directed by Teodor Currentzis.  The music here runs the gamut from playful and spirited, to solemn to disturbing ( Sonata for Violin and Piano). The program on the recording contrasts the kinetic energy of a young Russian composer, Piano Concertos 1 & 2 with the dark and dissonant Sonata for Violin and Piano, op.134 , which I just could not sit and listen to without feeling extremely tense. While I understand intellectually tha...