Daniil Trifonov, A Russian Pianist of Style

FRANZ LISZT — DANIIL TRIFONOV — TRANSCENDENTAL — 2016

Some say Liszt reinvented piano music. It might be true, but what is also true is that the piano itself was technically transformed by the various piano makers of the time. The modern instrument was coming out of nowhere or nearly. The technical choices of the piano makers enabled the modern piano to be born and some composers captured the change and started composing for this new instrument, themselves being piano virtuosi. So, they experimented by playing on this new keyboard, on this new instrument that had nothing to do, or so little with the pianoforte of Beethoven’s time. It is said that Beethoven dreamed of it and composed, for the pianoforte, music that was meant for the piano that did not exist yet.

Liszt thus uses the two hands of the pianist separately though in a coordinated way. For him there is no reason to prevent the left hand to go right and up, nor for the right hand to go down and left. The hands can cross, and one plays over the other and vice versa. At times we can wonder how many hands are playing and this time, in fact, the fingers have decided to play their own games, each one of them separately, and then we have up to ten little soldiers playing at the same time and that makes many notes, many keys, a whole symphony more than a melodious and clear single line of notes in succession. Then you add the power of the new instrument, and you have the power of this music. Note by the way I have rarely heard this music played on pianos from the first half of the 19th century or even a little bit later. So, the music we get today is not exactly what Liszt or Chopin could actually produce since their pianos were still far from 21st-century pianos.

For the people who are a little bit nostalgic and want to really hear the pianos of the time, you can always go to the Château d’Aulteribe in Puy de Dôme. They have restored the pianos George Onslow (1784–1853) used when he was living there and composing his music. They organize every year a festival of music of the first half of the 19th century, with some incursions into later music and even modern music. You will find out the weakness of these pianos as compared to today’s instruments. You can even go there for the festival. Unluckily they pack 150…