Phone

Tablet - Portrait

Tablet - Landscape

Desktop

WGBH Radio WGBH Radio theclassicalstation.org
  1. Back 1 step
  2. Album

Rachmaninov Variations / Daniil Trifonov

Release Date: 08/28/2015
Label: Deutsche Grammophon Catalog #: 002335702 Spars Code: DDD
Composer:  Sergei Rachmaninov ,  Daniil Trifonov Performer:  Daniil Trifonov Conductor:  Yannick Nézet-Séguin Orchestra/Ensemble:  Philadelphia Orchestra Number of Discs: 1



The opening bars tell you this is going to be a good ‘Pag Rhap’. As things turn out, it is a great one, up there with the very best. Trifonov and Nézet-Séguin do seem genuinely to be a meeting of musical minds. DG’s sound in the Rhapsody is sumptuous, full-bodied and realistic, with a near-perfect balance between piano and orchestra. The Philadelphia’s silky strings and characterful woodwind are a joy, while the percussion department is suitably punchy without being overcooked.

The remainder of the disc is given over to solo works, recorded with the same opulent piano tone and natural acoustic.

DG, not incidentally, helpfully Read more gives each variation throughout the disc a separate track – an impressive 73 in all. Not, I think, that you’ll want to do anything but listen all the way through to this early contender for the 2016 Awards. Read less