Pianist Daniil Trifonov is known for performances of 19th and 20th century virtuoso repertory and hardly at all for Bach. Thus one might expect from his album Bach: The Art of Life a certain old-school Romantic quality and even music that is a bit over the top. The album is all that and more. The title is a bit unclear; the interview-format notes quote Trifonov references to Bach's personal life, but also to various scientific phenomena, but one may dispense with those and get down to the music, which doubtless showcases ...
Read More
Pianist Daniil Trifonov is known for performances of 19th and 20th century virtuoso repertory and hardly at all for Bach. Thus one might expect from his album Bach: The Art of Life a certain old-school Romantic quality and even music that is a bit over the top. The album is all that and more. The title is a bit unclear; the interview-format notes quote Trifonov references to Bach's personal life, but also to various scientific phenomena, but one may dispense with those and get down to the music, which doubtless showcases Trifonov's formidable technical skills. With Bach, it is not about keyboard-clattering speed but about subtlety of inflection, and the variety brought to the little selections from the Bach's Anna Magdalena Book, pieces that almost everyone who has touched a keyboard has played, is extraordinary. Trifonov also includes a group of pieces by Bach's sons, and he does unusually well at finding what critic Harold Bloom called the anxiety of influence in these, their J.S. Bachian quality...
Read Less