By Jonathan Blumhofer

The keyboard wizard’s latest album both continues a trend of expansive projects that take the long view and celebrates the decade-plus the virtuoso has resided in the United States. It is a blast.

Daniil Trifonov may be continuing the tradition of electrifying pianism that goes back at least to Liszt. But he’s his own man when it comes to knowing his place as an artist. The keyboard wizard’s latest album, My American Story—North, both continues a trend of expansive projects that take the long view and celebrates the decade-plus the virtuoso has resided in the United States.

Its highlight is the first recording of Mason Bates’ Piano Concerto, which was written for Trifonov and premiered by him and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2022. Cast in the composer’s firmly accessible style, this is music that easily exceeds the sum of its parts.

Its three connected movements are each built over a foundation of rhythmic pulses that are appealingly shaped and characterful. What’s more, Bates’ writing for the keyboard seems to channel a kind of virtuosity that’s at once fiercely involved but decidedly chill: there’s plenty of room for Trifonov to show off his chops, but, throughout, the music emits laid-back, Northern California vibes (no surprise there: the composer has been based in the Bay Area since the early 2000s). In fact, if the Concerto recalls anyone, it’s probably Bates’ neighbor from Berkeley, John Adams — though the present effort is considerably less abstracted and more openly tuneful that the latter’s Century Rolls or Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?.

Trifonov’s performance is extroverted and carefree in the outer movements — the finale is particularly energetic and exuberant — while he draws out the soulful lyricism of the central one beautifully. In the latter, too, the pianist and the Philadelphians (led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin) highlight the conversational qualities of Bates’ writing for soloist and orchestra with aplomb.

The pairing makes mostly vigorous work of George Gershwin’s Concerto in F as well. Though Nézet-Séguin’s phrasings in the last two movements here are periodically fussy, there’s a clarity to the orchestral playing that’s eye-opening. Spades of little instrumental details — like the quiet trombone glissandos and English horn/viola doublings in the first movement — as well as more important things (the bluesy slow movement’s sophisticated counterpoint, for instance) emerge readily.

Trifonov’s contributions are brilliant and stylish. The solo part in the first movement sings and the keyboard tremolos during the big orchestral climax in the finale are, somehow, audible. Ultimately, his performance reminds how superb a pianist Gershwin was (he played the Concerto’s premiere in New York in 1928) not to mention his excellence as a composer: anticipations of Ravel’s later Concerto in G abound in the radiant Adagio here.

The album’s filler is wonderfully eclectic.

A well-directed, rhythmically-alert traversal of Copland’s knotty Piano Variations knows just where to go, musically. John Corigliano’s Fantasia on an Ostinato receives an outstandingly clear and atmospheric reading, its tonal crossfades almost impossibly well done. Meanwhile, John Adams’ China Gates benefits from an invitingly hypnotic (and well-shaped) approach.

But that’s hardly all. The bustle of New York City is the star in John Cage’s 4’33”. Before that, Trifonov offers a suavely rich account of “I Cover the Waterfront” and teases out the sweetness of Bill Evans’ arrangement of “When I Fall in Love.”

Thomas Newman’s Theme and Dave Grusin’s Memphis Stomp lend the proceedings a touch of Hollywood; the last shows a gritty, fun side of Trifonov we don’t always get to see. Like nearly all the rest of the album, it’s a blast.

Jonathan Blumhofer is a composer and violist who has been active in the greater Boston area since 2004. His music has received numerous awards and been performed by various ensembles, including the American Composers Orchestra, Kiev Philharmonic, Camerata Chicago, Xanthos Ensemble, and Juventas New Music Group. Since receiving his doctorate from Boston University in 2010, Jon has taught at Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and online for the University of Phoenix, in addition to writing music criticism for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.