An increasingly common descriptor for sportscasters is to say that an athlete “left it all on the (fill in the blank),” be it field, court or, in the case of Minnesotan Jessie Diggins, the ski trail. It’s basically to say that they had nothing left when they finished.

A musician who invites such comparisons is Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. He’s widely regarded as one of a handful of the world’s greatest pianists right now, and his Chopin Society recital on a snowy Sunday afternoon at Macalester College’s Mairs Concert Hall demonstrated that giving it everything he’s got means not only every ounce of energy but also of technical skill, interpretive imagination, heart and soul.

What Trifonov gave to the 300 or so in attendance was one of the most exciting and emotionally powerful solo recitals that they may ever experience. Throughout the 2½-hour recital, Trifonov asserted his place among the great Russian piano virtuosos of the past century, elbowing his way into the pantheon alongside Sergei Rachmaninoff, Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels. Like each of them, he has a flair for the dramatic but also a rare confluence of artistic vision and work ethic.

It was there to be found in the opening Suite in A Minor by French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. Whereas others may emphasize precision when performing dance suites from the baroque era, Trifonov upped the ante with unexpected expressiveness, most memorably on a closing set of staccato variations that grew faster and more explosive by the minute.

His take on Mozart’s Sonata No. 12 was contrastingly playful, sometimes sounding like Papageno singing joyfully to his birds in the composer’s “Magic Flute,” but most memorable when caressing the keys on a magical slow movement.

The most quintessentially romantic offering from this emotion-forward pianist was Felix Mendelssohn’s too seldom played Variations Sérieuses. This captivating work takes a simple theme and dresses it up in 17 distinctly different garments, quick-change artist Trifonov leaping from an emphatic fugue to a melancholic interlude to a spare and haunting elegy.

But the piece that likely will be recalled with a sense of breathless awe will be the interpretation of Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” (the Sonata No. 29) that filled the concert’s second half. This was where the pianist showed himself committed to giving the audience the last full measure of his brilliance, starting with an opening Allegro full of fanfares and contrasting softer sections.

At that movement’s conclusion, Trifonov rocked silently for a few moments on his stool before suddenly lunging at the Scherzo as if trying to catch it unawares. He made it both thunderous and ebullient, but it seemed merely a palate cleanser for the absorbing odyssey that was the ensuing Adagio. That had the tone of a mournful reflection, grief and consolation seemingly in dialogue, the pianist’s left hand weighted down in darkness, his right hand expressing optimism with brightly colored interjections, eventually resolving in a kind of peaceful acceptance.

But some repressed rage erupted in the finale’s explosive fugues, Trifonov assaulting the piano as if wielding the hammer of the gods, yet making each note and chord remarkably clean and clear.

The day’s second standing ovation was rewarded with a particularly funereal interpretation of “In Church” from Tchaikovsky’s “Album for the Young.” It brought a solemn end to a concert that will go down as one of the most impressive displays of solo virtuosity on a Twin Cities stage so far this century.

Rob Hubbard is a Twin Cities freelance classical music writer. Reach him at wordhub@yahoo.com.