Yefim Bronfman: summer 2009
The Grammy Award-winning pianist Yefim “Fima” Bronfman is
set to embark on a juggernaut tour of American and European music festivals
this summer. The beloved pianist has been chosen as the opening soloist for the
Tanglewood (July 3), Ravinia (July 7) and Saratoga (August 5) festivals, and as
Artist Étoile for the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland. Bronfman will also
appear at Waldbühne for a televised concert with the Berlin Philharmonic (June
21), and on tour in Europe with conductor/composer Esa-Pekka Salonen for
performances of his Piano Concerto, which was written for Bronfman. “This is a
summer that I have been planning and looking forward to for a long time,” the
pianist comments. “I will be visiting top festivals around the world and
collaborating with many of my favorite conductors and orchestras. It’s a summer
I will remember for many years to come.”
Before beginning his tour of American music festivals,
Bronfman will appear at Berlin’s stunning outdoor venue Waldbühne for a
televised concert with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. Upon his
return, Bronfman is featured at the opening night of the Tanglewood Festival
with Maestro James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra playing
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. (He will return to the festival on August
14 to play Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Michael Tilson Thomas on
the podium.) Bronfman will also be the featured soloist at the opening night of
the Ravinia Festival (July 7), playing Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with James
Conlon. Before playing the opening-night concert of the Saratoga Festival on
August 5, Bronfman will make stops at the Aspen Music Festival (August 2) and
in Tel Aviv with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic (July 10-17).
Bronfman tours Europe with Salonen Concerto
Bronfman and Esa-Pekka Salonen will continue to perform the
conductor/composer’s Piano Concerto throughout the summer. The concerto was
written for Bronfman and premiered with the New York Philharmonic in 2007.
Since then, Bronfman has performed the work nearly a dozen times throughout
North America and Europe, including a recording for Deutsche Grammophon with
the composer conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This summer, the pair
will perform the piece at Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival and in the composer’s
native country for the first time at the Helsinki Festival. Maestro Salonen and
Bronfman will also give the piece its Swiss premiere as part of the pianist’s
Artist Étoile residency at the Lucerne Festival.
Bronfman is Artist Étoile at the Lucerne Festival
Bronfman will end the summer with an impressive two-week
residency at the Lucerne Festival. During his residency as Artist Étoile,
Bronfman will perform Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Zubin Mehta and the
Vienna Philharmonic, Berg’s Kammerkonzert
with Pierre Boulez and the Academy Orchestra, and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Piano
Concerto with the composer conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra. “The
orchestral concerts include what I feel to be the perfect pairing of an
orchestra, conductor and repertoire,” explains Bronfman. “Maestro Mehta and I
have done countless concerts together, but Brahms with him and Vienna is a
dream, and having Maestro Boulez for the Berg is a personal triumph for me. He
was conducting the first time I heard the piece, and I was completely
overwhelmed by that performance. For the last 20 years I have wanted to play
that piece with Pierre Boulez. Thanks to the Lucerne Festival, that is now
possible.”
The other two concerts Bronfman will perform at the festival
are a solo recital and a chamber music concert; both will feature music by the
young German composer and clarinetist Jörg Widman. On his solo recital,
Bronfman will play the European premiere of Widman’s Eleven Humoresques, which was commissioned for him by Carnegie Hall and
premiered there last May. Widman will join Bronfman as a performer in the
August 22 chamber music recital.
Yefim Bronfman: summer 2009 engagements:
June 11, 12, 14
Baltimore, MD
Strathmore (June 11); Meyerhoff (June 12, 14)
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Marin Alsop
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
June 17
Copenhagen, Denmark
Tivoli Symphony Orchestra / Lan Shui
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
June 21
Berlin, Germany (Waldbühne)
Berlin Philharmonic / Simon Rattle
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3
July 3
Lenox, MA: Tanglewood
Festival
Boston Symphony Orchestra /
James Levine
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto
July 5
Highland Park, IL: Ravinia
Festival
Zukerman Chamber Players
Mozart: Piano Quartet No. 1
in G Minor
Schumann: “Trout” Quintet
July 7
Highland Park, IL: Ravinia
Festival
Chicago Symphony Orchestra /
James Conlon
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
July 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
/ Zubin Mehta
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
August 2
Aspen, CO
Aspen Music Festival
Orchestra / Peter Oundjian
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
August 4
Saratoga Springs, NY: Saratoga
Performing Arts Center
Saratoga Chamber Music
Festival
Brahms: Sonata in E major
Tchaikovsky: Dumka for solo
piano
Dvorak: String quintet in G major
August 5
Saratoga Springs, NY; Saratoga
Performing Arts Center
Philadelphia Orchestra /
Charles Dutoit
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
August 14
Lenox, MA: Tanglewood
Festival
Boston Symphony Orchestra /
Michael Tilson Thomas
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto
No. 3
August 19
Edinburgh, Scotland
Philharmonia Orchestra /
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Salonen: Piano Concerto
August 21
Helsinki, Finland
Philharmonia Orchestra /
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Salonen: Piano Concerto
August 25
Lucerne, Switzerland: Lucerne
Festival
Philharmonia Orchestra /
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Salonen: Piano Concerto
August 29
Lucerne, Switzerland: Lucerne
Festival
Lucerne Academy Orchestra /
Pierre Boulez
Berg: Kammerkonzert
August 31
Opatija, Croatia
Solo recital
September 2
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Solo recital
September 5
Lucerne, Switzerland: Lucerne
Festival
Chamber concert
Jorg Widmann, clarinet
September 7
Lucerne, Switzerland: Lucerne
Festival
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
/ Zubin Mehta
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
September 8
Hannover, Germany
Recital
September 13
Lucerne, Switzerland: Lucerne
Festival
Solo recital
© 21C Media Group, June 2009