Music - Bronfman and Beethoven

In my very humble opinion, one of the absolute greatest pianists performing today is the American-Israeli pianist Yefim Bronfman.   Bronfman was born in the former Soviet Union in 1958;  he and his family were able to emigrate to Israel when the Soviets loosened Jewish emigration in the 1970s.  He became an American citizen in 1989.  Bronfman is a big man and a big player with a commanding technique and a profound musicality that makes his performances compelling and moving.  Although I’ve yet to have the privilege of hearing him in person, I have listened to recordings of his live performances and through the internet (God Bless You, YouTube!) have watched him play.  I have to say that I have yet to hear a Bronfman performance that didn’t make me want to cheer.

Today, I came across a real gem that I have to share with you.  This is a YouTube capture of a 2007 performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major with Bronfman and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under the baton of Herbert Blomstedt (I saw Blomstedt conduct Beethoven with the Pittsburgh Symphony in the mid-1970s – a particularly stirring account of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony comes to mind – and he was overwhelming then.  This performance reinforces his reputation as a great Beethoven conductor.)  Set aside some time and listen to this performance – not only is Beethoven’s musical conception wondrously revealed – Bronfman’s playing is absolutely brilliant.  Of truly special note is Bronfman’s rendering of the cadenza at the end of the first movement.  The brilliant clarity and color of his sound, combined with his grasp of musical structure and force, create in this cadenza precisely what a cadenza of Beethoven’s time was supposed to do – to allow the performer to encapsulate, without orchestral assistance, the material of the movement in a way that combines the highest degree of technical virtuosity with a perfectly nuanced musical sensibility.   The tone and color of his touch of are displayed in the second movement (Largo); which, along with the Andante of the Fifth Piano Concerto, is one of Beethoven’s most beautiful meditations for piano and orchestra.  Finally, Bronfman’s phenomenal technique and musical dash come to the fore in the third movement Rondo (including a rollicking Allegro scherzando that signals Beethoven’s early readiness to step outside the strictures of the Classical style.)

So without any further ado, here’s a truly great performance.  From 2007, Yefin Bronfman with Herbert Blomstedt  and the RCO performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1.  Enjoy!