Daniil Trifonov/ Yannick Nezet-Seguin & The Philadelphia Orchestra – My American Story: North (UHQCD dublu)

Universal Music Japan and Deutsche Grammophon are proud to release the new album by Russian star pianist Daniil Trifonov as an excellent-sounding UHQ 2-CD set. “My American Story – North” is a very personal musical journey in which Trifonov travels across America. The first album in a two-part series begins in the United States, where Trifonov spent nearly half his life. It includes a series of works that reflect his experiences in his adopted country. The diverse repertoire “gave me access to many angles, styles, cultures, places, people, stories and forms of expression that shaped and formed my perception of America,” says Trifonov. The selected pieces range from jazz and swing to minimal music and popular film scores.

Two piano concertos form the backbone of the album: Gershwin’s beloved “Concerto In F” and the world premiere of a new concerto written by Mason Bates especially for Trifonov. In both works, the pianist is accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra and its music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Trifonov will also play solo works by John Adams, Aaron Copland, John Corigliano and Dave Grusin, Trifonov’s own transcriptions of various jazz classics such as Art Tatum’s “I Cover The Waterfront”, Bill Evans’ version of “When I Fall In Love”, selected pieces from the Hollywood soundtrack classics “The Firm” and “American Beauty” and John Cage’s legendary “4’33””. ‘I didn’t want to present an anthology,’ says Trifonov, ”but simply music that I feel connected to, some of my favourite pieces that speak to me musically.”

UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to the softer photopolymer for scratch protection. The combination results in significantly reduced reflection of laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with standard CD players. Musically, the result is a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.

While Universal Music Japan’s first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, with increasing popularity, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now appearing. Typically, the Universal Archive master tapes are re-converted to DSD for this purpose. UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not own an SACD player.

Lista pieselor

UHQCD 1

1. Green / Tatum: I Cover The Waterfront

2. Gershwin: Concerto In F

3. Copland: Piano Variations

4. Young / Evans: When I Fall In Love

5. Adams: China Gates

UHQCD 2

1. Corigliano: Fantasia On An Ostinato

2. Grusin: Memphis Stomp

3. Newman: American Beauty

4. Bates: Concerto For Piano And Orchestra

5. Cage: 4‘33“