Hannu Lintu conducts Rautavaara, Schumann, and Sibelius — With Daniil Trifonov

Returning to Lisbon's Pianomania festival for a musical evening with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Daniil Trifonov brings his signature combination of musicality, intelligence, and virtuosity to bear on Schumann's only Piano Concerto, one of the great pianist's favorite works. Bookending his performance are works by the contemporary composer Einojuhani Rautavaara and the immortal Jean Sibelius, Finnish maestro Hannu Lintu's fellow countrymen.

The evening opens with Rautavaara's Cantus Arcticus. Subtitled "Concerto for Birds and Orchestra," the piece incorporates recordings of birdsong captured near the Arctic Circle and in the bogs of Liminka in northern Finland. Trifonov then takes the stage for Schumann’s Piano Concerto, a work beloved for its rich harmonic language and unusually independent treatment of the orchestra. Premiered in 1846 with Clara Schumann herself at the piano, the work was an instant success, redefining the concerto and greatly influencing the genre in the years that followed. The concert finishes with Sibelius' Second Symphony, a work the composer himself described as "a confession of the soul."

Daniil Trifonov appears courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH.
Photo: Daniil Trifonov © Dario Acosta / Deutsche Grammophon GmbH

Discover Daniil Trifonov's album Chopin Evocations, released on the Deutsche Grammophon label: