Daniil Trifonov in love

Daniil Trifonov plays

"It isn't about rapport with the audience, but total obsession with the instrument," said a man beside me to his friends. We were all waiting to cross the road after the Daniil Trifonov piano concert at Angel Place last night.

Yes, exactly, I thought. Those were the words I had been seeking.

I had made a few little pencil sketches of Trifonov as he began his concert but as time passed I found myself writing words instead.

Caress, I wrote.  Prayer, Abandonment, Touch, Determination, Structure (during the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues), Gentleness, Love.

Love. Yes, that is it really. Trifonov loves his instrument, is in love with his instrument.

Virtuoso pianist Martha Argerich is reported as saying of Trifonov, “What he does with his hands is technically incredible. It’s also his touch—he has tenderness and also the demonic element." 
I wondered what exactly we would hear and now I know:  a pianist in love with his instrument - with everything else irrelevant.