Following on 2024’s critically acclaimed My American Story – North, Daniil Trifonov will release the second leg of his autobiographical journey through the Americas Mi Historia Americana – Sur (My American Story – South) on October 2. In this new Deutsche Grammophon double album, the pianist delves into the music of South America and the Caribbean. Listen to the first single here.
As well as performing his own Tango and solo works by composers ranging from Villa-Lobos to Gabriela Lena Frank, he is joined by the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) and Gonzalo Grau for Barroso’s Aquarela do Brasil and the world premiere recording of Golijov’s Cuadros del Sur, both of which were arranged especially for the project.
Mi Historia Americana – Sur will be released as a two-CD set, as a three-LP set, and digitally on October 2, together with a five-track vinyl disc named The Encores, issued the same day to celebrate the pianist’s upcoming recital tour. These new recordings follow last week’s release of a standalone digital single capturing his piano transcription of Gustavo Santaolalla’s main theme from The Last of Us, and anticipate the series of advance digital album singles that will be issued over the coming weeks, each accompanied by a performance video.
Mi Historia Americana – Sur is one of Trifonov’s most personal projects to date, given the close links he has forged with the region, not least through his marriage to fellow pianist and Dominican Republic native Judith Ramírez. Indeed, much inspiration for the album came to him during an extended stay in his wife’s homeland. He recalls:
“My family and I were isolated for months in the Dominican Republic during the COVID pandemic. It was during that lockdown period that I finally found time to discover a wealth of outstanding Latin American piano music. Like Latin America itself, the repertoire is vast and full of variety. There are many pieces that are popular in the region yet unfamiliar in other parts of the world. I wanted to present a picture of the musical richness this literature has to offer.”
The album opens with an orchestral arrangement of Ary Barroso’s hugely popular song Aquarela do Brasil by Venezuelan conductor, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Gonzalo Grau. Grau also created Cuadros del Sur (“Pictures of the South”), an OSESP, Deutsche Grammophon, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Aspen Music Festival co-commission. Taking formal inspiration from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Grau alternates a recurring “promenade” theme with selections from La Pasión según San Marcos, an orchestral-choral work by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. Having given the work’s first performance this past February, Trifonov and OSESP present its world premiere recording on Mi Historia Americana – Sur, in what marks the first appearance on a DG recording by any Brazilian orchestra.
Brazil is further represented by Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras No. 4 and Valsa da dor, alongside gems from Mozart Camargo Guarnieri and Oscar Lorenzo Fernández; Argentina by Alberto Ginastera’s Milonga and Second Piano Sonata, as well as an Argentine-style Tango by Trifonov himself; and the Caribbean by music from contemporary Dominican composer Michel Camilo, his compatriots Juan Francisco García and Rafael “Bullumba” Landestoy, and Cuba’s most famous composer, Ernesto Lecuona. Trifonov completes his musical journey in Peru, with the Sonata Andina by Gabriela Lena Frank, the U.S.-born composer with Peruvian roots who was recently recognized with the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Music. The pianist explains:
“As with many composers featured on this album, Frank blends elements of Western classical and folk music traditions in complex, captivating ways: the solo piano evokes traditional Bolivian drums and Peruvian flutes, the piano imitates traditional Latin guitars and instruments such as the marimba. It’s a colorful musical tapestry.”
Trifonov performs repertoire from the recording extensively over the 2026–27 season. Upcoming highlights include a solo recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall, a Latin American tour with the Berlin Philharmonic, and performances of Cuadros del Sur in Europe. Full details will be announced shortly.
Stream the first single and pre-order / save here.