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Thursday, Aug 28, 2008
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Technical wizardry matched by musicality |
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| Technical wizardry matched by musicality | |
| by Rod Parke -
SGN A&E Writer PIANO RECITAL BY YEFIM BRONFMAN WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18 BENAROYA HALL Mr. Bronfman is a portly man, well beyond the handsome looks of the press photo in the printed program. He doesn't look particularly energetic or powerful. Guess again! Everything about this recital bespoke energy so focused, so intense that all difficulties seemed to evaporate before it. Behind this energy was a musical intelligence that communicated clear intension every step of the way. A long-time U.S. citizen, Mr. Bronfman moved from his birthplace, Tashkent, to Israel when he was 15, and later to the U.S. Three giants of mid-twentieth century piano performance, Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin, were among his teachers. Yet his technical mastery as heard in Benaroya Hall seemed greater than any of those. In fact, this recital was so full of technical wizardry that its musical riches were almost overshadowed. As if trying to avoid such an evaluation, the pianist began the program with music of a less showy sort: Beethoven's "Piano Sonata No. 13, Op. 27, No. 1, Quasi una Fantasia." Here one was struck by the warmth of Bronfman's playing. While the Beethovenian dramatic contrasts were hit for all they were worth, the overall effect was friendly, even playful. There was nothing superficial or flashy about it. Carrying the Fantasia element much further was Robert Schumann's "Fantasy in C major, op. 17." Even though the first movement is carefully constructed in a sonata-like form, the music is wild and passionate, giving Bronfman considerable opportunities to show technical prowess. Having long ago seen a then-prominent pianist (Ivo Pogorelich) make Chopin sound like a third-rate composer, it was a joy to hear Bronfman make Schumann sound almost like a first-rate composer. No lack of musical gifts in this player! "Gaspard de la nuit" by Maurice Ravel requires not only superb technique but also the imagination and ability to pull vastly differing colors from the piano, often simultaneously. To watch Bronfman do this with such ease is to witness magic. One would be hard-pressed to name a more technically difficult work, but the closing piece is one. Yet another Fantasia, "Islamey" by Mily Balakirev is perhaps the most challenging of all piano works. Although not very long, it tests a player's technique like no other. To say Bronfman had it well under his fingers would be understatement. He, the piano, and the music merged into a unity so stunning that one could only gasp. Yet it was musically expressive as well. Altogether a fun, even thrilling experience! The pianist's well-chosen encores were generous: Scarlatti: "Sonata in C minor", Chopin: "Étude Op. 10, No. 12 in C minor, The Revolutionary Étude", Prokofiev: Finale from "Sonata No. 7" The Scarlatti was the perfect palette cleanser after the Balakirev, here presented with crystalline brilliance and charm. The Chopin was played strictly as a technical show-off, which I found appropriate in this context. Then came the Prokofiev, a rhythmic and technical explosion of energy that made my whole body respond in gleeful excitement. (It also made an amateur pianist friend beg me to begin this review with "OMG!") One should add that at no point did the piano sound become unmusical. Bronfman is indeed one of the giants of the piano world. His scarcely hidden glee in showing his talents to the fullest only added to the fun. Reviewer Rod Parke can be reached at rod@sgn.org |
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