"Eine hochambitionierte Produktion also, und die Erwartungen, die daraus erwachsen, scheinen sich anfangs voll zu erfüllen ... Bald allerdings beginnt zu irritieren, dass er und Dirigent Yannick Nézet-Séguin aus der Musik offenbar vor allem ein Maximum an gefühligem Sentiment herauszuholen versuchen"

"Trifonov is a gifted pianist, the Philadelphians have the music in their blood and Nézet-Séguin has an eye for detail and careful phrasing ... Overall, this is another fine, well-recorded addition to the lengthy discography but one which neither astonished nor moved me"

"Unter Trifonovs virtuosen Händen und mit Yannick Nézet-Séguin und dem Philadelphia Orchestra an seiner Seite sprudelt Rachmaninovs Musik, sie singt ausgelassen und beisst auch mal in den hohen Spitzentönen ... Majestästisch wirken die Interpretationen Trifonovs mit dem Orchester, technisch und klanglich über allem erhaben"

"Trifonov is wonderfully alive to its mercurial piano writing, achieving astonishing crystalline delicacy in the elaborate filigree passage work and negotiating unexpected juxtapositions of mood, from romantic warmth and nostalgia (in the haunting slow movements) to irony and percussive rhythmic intensity (int the finale), with a sure sense of purpose. Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the superbly responsive Philadelphia Orchestra follow the soloist's every interpretative nuance"

"Recording of the week: What can one say about what must be one of the more frequently performed works in the concerto repertoire? Well, if you're Daniil Trifonov then the answer is "quite a lot" ... Both Trifonov and Nézet-Séguin seem pleasingly keen to avoid any hint of wallowing self-indulgence, and what comes across is the amount of detail there is, not just in the piano part but also in the orchestral writing"

"These are performances of such musical awareness, tonal variety and dazzling virtuosity that even the Second, one of the most popular of all piano concertos, has every trace of routine and over-familiarity stripped away. Trifonov has the gift of making something compelling out of the least attention-seeking piano lines ... The woodwind playing is superb, but it's the simple eloquence of Trifonov's playing that constantly draws the ear"