Yefim Bronfman on tour with Emanuel Ax

“A marvel of digital dexterity, warmly romantic sentiment, and jaw-dropping bravura” – Chicago Tribune

This
week Yefim Bronfman continues his extensive U.S. duo-piano recital tour
with his long-time friend and New York City neighbor Emanuel Ax, with
stops in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Troy, New York. The duo will appear
at Carnegie Hall on November 21.

The pair has chosen a
daring and entertaining program that includes Rachmaninoff’s fiery
Symphonic Dances, William Bolcom’s Latin-dance-inspired Recuerdos,
Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Haydn in B-flat major, and
Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major. The pair began their 13-city
US tour in Syracuse, NY on November 5 and went on to play at Ann
Arbor’s Hill Auditorium and Chicago’s venerable Orchestra Hall.

Fima’s
season began at the San Francisco Symphony’s glittering opening-night
gala and with concerts at the New York Philharmonic. During the season
he will play Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra; Berg’s Chamber Concerto with the San Francisco
Symphony; Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on tour in Austria, Germany,
Russia, and Spain, and in North America with the Montreal and Toronto
Symphony Orchestras, among others; and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24
with the Seattle and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras in the U.S. and
with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London.

Fima launches his new web site at YefimBronfman.com

This week, Fima launches his new web site, which can be found at www.YefimBronfman.com.
The site features up-to-date information about the pianist’s concert
and recital activities, recording releases, video and audio clips and
news from the road. The site also has interactive features for fans to
keep in touch by becoming a “Friend of Fima”. Friends of Fima will
receive special updates and invitations to exclusive CD signings and
events.

In Europe, Bronfman gives recital tour and joins Salonen for performances of the maestro’s Piano Concerto

Fima
has always enjoyed playing recitals and chamber music just as much as
his concerto performances. At last season’s Carnegie Hall
“Perspectives” recital, he earned great acclaim for his fantasy-themed
program, which featured the C-major Phantasie by Robert Schumann, the rarely-programmed Islamey of Mily Balakirev, and Ravel’s nightmarish Gaspard de la nuit.
This season, Fima takes that program on tour in Europe and plays it at
two engagements in the U.S., augmenting the repertoire at some
performances with works by Beethoven and – at Carnegie Hall – with the
world premiere of a piece by the young German composer Jörg Widmann.

Bronfman explains the inspiration behind this recital program:

“This
recital is all about fantasy. Thankfully, there are many pieces based
on fantasies and the concept of the fantasy. Schumann wrote his
Phantasie with Beethoven in mind. They were erecting a monument of
Beethoven in Bonn, and Schumann wrote it for the occasion. He had Clara
in mind too, but it was dedicated to Franz Liszt. It’s very eccentric
and a great piece that I just love to play. The opening piece is
Beethoven’s Sonata No. 13, known as the “Sonata quasi una fantasia”.
The Widmann piece will be sandwiched between the Beethoven and the
Schumann.

“Balakirev’s Islamey is an
“Oriental fantasy”. When Ravel wrote his Gaspard de la nuit, he said he
wanted it to be more difficult than Islamey, which had the reputation
of being the hardest piece ever written. And he succeeded! To put these
back to back will be fun: this Ravel piece is so different from the
worlds of Beethoven and Schumann. After the intermission you’ll hear
this new sonority. I’m excited about this program!”

Having
played Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Piano Concerto extensively in the United
States and recorded the work for Deutsche Grammophon (to be released in
May), Fima will perform the concerto with the NDR Hamburg (conducted by
Salonen) on December 5, 6, and 7; with the Royal Concertgebouw
Orchestra (again with Salonen) on December 11 and 12; and with the
Orchestre National de Radio France, with Mikko Franck conducting, on
December 19.

Yefim Bronfman: highlights of the 2008-09 season:

November 12; Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA
Duo-recital with Emanuel Ax

November 13; Napa Valley, CA
Duo-recital with Emanuel Ax

November 16; Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale, AZ
Duo-recital with Emanuel Ax
www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org

November 18; Troy Music Hall, Troy, NY
Duo-recital with Emanuel Ax
www.troymusichall.org

November 19; McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ
Duo-recital with Emanuel Ax

November 21; Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
Duo-recital with Emanuel Ax

November 22; Stony Brook, NY
Duo-recital with Emanuel Ax

November 23; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Duo-recital with Emanuel Ax

December 2; Teatro Communale, Florence, Italy
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Zubin Mehta

December 5, 7; Hamburg
December 6; Lubec
Salonen: Piano Concerto
NDR Hamburg / Esa-Pekka Salonen

December 11, 12: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Salonen: Piano Concerto
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Esa-Pekka Salonen

December 15; Moscow, Russia
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Shostakovich Prize

December 19; Paris, France
Salonen: Piano Concerto
Orchestre National de Radio France / Mikko Franck

December 24; St. Petersburg, Russia
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra / Yuri Temirkanov 2009

January 4; Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY
Chamber concert: Mozart: “Kegelstatt” Trio; Schumann: Piano Quintet
New York Philharmonic

January 15-17; Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24
Seattle Symphony / Douglas Boyd

January 30 – February 1; Bamberg, Germany
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Bamberger Symphoniker / Herbert Blomstedt

February 5, 8; London, England
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24
Philharmonia Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras

February 10; Valencia, Spain
Solo recital

February 13, 14; Valencia, Spain
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Orquesta de Valencia / Yaron Traub

February 17-19; Zurich, Switzerland
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Tonhalle Orchestra / David Zinman

February 27 – March 1; San Diego, CA
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
San Diego Symphony / Jahja Ling

March 5-7; Cincinnati, OH
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Järvi

March 12, 14, 15; Houston, TX
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Houston Symphony / Hans Graf

March 25, 26; Ottawa, Canada
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
National Arts Centre Orchestra / Pinchas Zukerman

March 29; Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92nd Street Y, New York, NY
Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major (“Trout”); Mozart: Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major
Zukerman Chamber Players

March 30, 31; Montreal, Canada
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Montreal Symphony Orchestra / Kent Nagano

April 5; Berlin, Germany
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2
Staatsoper Orchestra / Daniel Barenboim

April 6, 10; Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Austria
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Berliner Philharmoniker / Simon Rattle

April 15, 16; Toronto, Canada
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Toronto Symphony Orchestra / Peter Oundjian

April 23; Union College, Schenectady, NY
Solo recital

April 25; Germantown Performing Arts Centre, Germantown, PA
Solo recital

April 30 – May 2; Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, PA
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra / Manfred Honeck

May 5; Sunset Center, Carmel, CA
Solo recital

May 8-10; Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Los Angeles Philharmonic / Xian Zhang

May 16; Madrid, Spain
Solo recital

May 20; Wigmore Hall, London, England
Solo recital

May 24; Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, NL
Solo recital

May 26; Saint Petersburg, Russia
White Nights Festival: Solo Recital

May 29; Buffalo, NY
Solo recital

May 30; Detroit, MI
Solo recital

June 3-6; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA
Berg: Chamber Concerto;
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas

June 7; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA
Recital with Julia Fischer

June 11; Music Center at Strathmore, Baltimore, MD

June 12, 14; Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Marin Alsop

June 17; Tivoli
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Tivoli Symphony Orchestra / Lan Shui

June 21; Waldbühne, Berlin, Germany
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
Berliner Philharmoniker / Simon Rattle