The magics of music

Summary/Review: Daniil Trifonov started to play the piano at the age of five, not because he wanted to play the piano but because he wanted to compose. The films contain a number of performances shot live on stage with cameras unusually close to the artist, which adds considerably to the power of the images. They also present Trifonov in conversations which demonstrate his earnestness, his exceptional modesty, and his gloriously high intelligence. In the portrait film he plays music by Chopin, Ravel, and Trifonov himself, part of his first piano concerto, filmed at the world premiere performance at the Cleveland Institue in April 2014. In the performance film he plays music by Chopin (Prelude, op. 28, no. 20 and Etude, op. 10, no. 8 in F major), Scriabin (Etude op. 42, no. 5 in C sharp minor), Rachmaninov (Variations on a theme of Chopin, op. 22), and Johann Strauss (Overture to Die Fledermaus, arranged by Trifonov).