Passers-by stare, not at the ghostly-pale face of the young man opposite me, but at his fingers. Delicate and surprisingly small — given his profession — they continually form piano chords on the table as he speaks. It’s as if Daniil Trifonov is simultaneously sustaining two mental states: one fielding questions from The Times, the other processing the music swirling through his brain. Or perhaps it’s simply that he would be much happier expressing himself in music (although his English is perfectly fluent).
The 24-year-old Russian is without question the most astounding young pianist of our age — as the Albert Hall audience will discover tomorrow when he appears at one of the summer’s more bizarre Proms. Valery Gergiev will conduct all five Prokofiev