There's a lot packed into this double-CD set by Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. The album is entitled Chopin Evocations, but it consists of more than that. There are the two early piano concertos, premiered in new orchestrations by Mikhail Pletnev, who plays the role of conductor this time out. There are three actual Chopin compositions, two of them rather rare. And there are four pieces that could indeed qualify as Chopin evocations, although one of them, the Nocturne of Samuel Barber, was explicitly designated as an ...
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There's a lot packed into this double-CD set by Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. The album is entitled Chopin Evocations, but it consists of more than that. There are the two early piano concertos, premiered in new orchestrations by Mikhail Pletnev, who plays the role of conductor this time out. There are three actual Chopin compositions, two of them rather rare. And there are four pieces that could indeed qualify as Chopin evocations, although one of them, the Nocturne of Samuel Barber, was explicitly designated as an homage to Chopin's model in the nocturne genre, Irish composer John Field. So, it's sort of a mixed bag, but what makes it work is that Trifonov is an excellent Chopin interpreter, and that much of the music is extraordinarily interesting. The Pletnev orchestrations can certainly be debated, but there have been suggestions since the 19th century that the original orchestrations were not entirely Chopin's own, and others, including Alfred Cortot, have tinkered with the music. Pletnev's...
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