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 even in a stylistic world that had fundamentally changed. However, none of these really prepares the listener for the album's centerpiece, "The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080," which is divided between the two CDs in the physical version. It is as imposing as the rest of the album is light, and listeners will either love the contrast (Trifonov fans are sure to fall into this category) or find it jarring. Listen to the "Contrapunctus 6 ("in stylo Francese")" for an idea of the outlandish personalities Trifonov gives each fugue here. Even those who find it a bit much will have to concede the skill involved in fully realizing each idea. Instead of breaking off at the end of the unfinished final fugue, Trifonov furnishes his own completion, and it's actually one of the more convincing tries on the market. Listeners will have their own opinions about this release, but it is absolutely never boring, and its commercial success suggests that Trifonov's legions are increasing in number.
