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Pianist-composer and CIM student Daniil Trifonov gave an impassioned world-premiere performance of his first Piano Concerto Wednesday night at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

(Roger Mastroianni)

Even having seen it, one cannot quite believe it. Such is the artistry of pianist-composer Daniil Trifonov.

Much as Prokofiev’s earliest listeners were surely stunned, so was a house full of benefactors Wednesday night in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music staggered by Trifonov’s titanic premiere of his own First Piano Concerto.

A student at CIM and a world-class soloist, Trifonov was commissioned by the school to pen and perform a concerto as part of an effort to spawn a new generation of composer virtuosos. It was this work, the artist’s largest creation to date, the pianist presented Wednesday with the CIM Orchestra and conductor Joel Smirnoff.

To place Trifonov the composer on a level with the giants of the 20th century may be a bit of a stretch. At least for now. While his concerto contained whole expanses of raw originality, the work also struck this listener as heavily indebted to such masters as Scriabin, Bartok, Shostakovich and Prokofiev.

But that does not diminish the accomplishment. Not at all. Even to compose in the vein of such luminaries is no easy matter. Moreover, for Trifonov to have written a work showcasing and testing his own prodigious talents is a feat nothing short of brilliant.

Indeed, the concerto’s whole first movement is probably off-limits to all but the most gifted pianists. The musical equivalent of a hailstorm, the piece as performed by Trifonov raged with percussive, almost violent force nonstop but for a few seconds of radiant melody, all in elegant partnership with the orchestra.

Even to one who heard the work in rehearsal, the score was unpredictable, prone to veer off in any direction at any moment. If, at times, Trifonov’s structure was hard to follow, the sheer volatility of the music kept things relentlessly interesting.

Likewise, the finale, marked Allegro Vivace, was not for the faint of heart. A pianist would have to be more than usually daring to take on an episode so jam-packed with crazed scampering, hallucinated dances, and brute stomping in time with drum and low brass. Trifonov, of course, made it all seem easy, not to mention wildly exciting.

But Trifonov the composer was actually at his best in his Andante, the concerto’s centerpiece. There, the pianist – later to treat his approving audience to two original encores – switched from virtuoso showman to musical poet, engaging the strings and a solo clarinet in dialogues as beautiful as they were mysterious.

Trifonov may have been the headliner, but he was not the night’s only act. Also featured on the concert were Smirnoff and the CIM Orchestra in short but sparkling works by Liadov, Bartok and Tchaikovsky.

Liadov’s “The Enchanted Lake” was a sumptuous, regally paced treat, while the Polacca from Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty” made for a rousing warm-up. But the highlight on the first half was surely Bartok’s “Hungarian Sketches,” five short scenes full to overflowing with sentiment, drive and humor. For a brighter introduction to his youthful magnum opus, Trifonov could not have hoped.