Star-pianist Daniil Trifonov presents a beautiful selection of Tchaikovsky’s solo works that portray him at his most intimate and private. The work is threaded through with themes of both mother and childhood, youth and family. It contains the rarely performed early Piano Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. 80, the Thème original et variations in F major, Op. 19 No. 6, and the Children’s Album. Additionally, Trifonov has recorded Mikhail Pletnev’s virtuoso 1978 realization of the concert suite from The Sleeping Beauty. ‘We think of him as an archetypical Romantic,’ says Trifonov. ‘But particularly in his younger years, Tchaikovsky found joy in his close relationships and emotional comfort in his family.’