CMDetroit Steve Update:
Yefim Bronfman Returns!

First Chamber Music Detroit Appearance in a Decade
Blog posted on 03-10-2023

 Dear Friends,

"Yefim Bronfman looks less like the person who is going to play the piano than like the guy who should be moving it."

This entertaining quote, from a 2017 column by novelist Phillip Roth in the New York Times, captures the essence of the common first impression of pianist Yefim Bronfman. "He is conspicuously massive through the upper torso..." Roth goes on, "...somebody who has strolled into the music shed out of a circus where he is the strongman and who takes on the piano as a ridiculous challenge to the gargantuan strength he revels in."

But don't let that fool you. Yes, "Fima" Bronfman is one of the biggest, strongest pianists on the planet. But he is also one of the most deeply passionate, intelligent and sensitive musicians you will ever encounter. And - according to a childhood friend who was on the board of the Allentown Symphony while I was executive director there - he is one of the hardest working people in any field, anywhere. Of course, if you have been attending concerts at Chamber Music Detroit long enough, you already know that. Between 1998 and 2009, Bronfman appeared on six CMDetroit concerts: three as a solo recitalist, two in duo-piano concerts with his close friend Emanuel Ax, and once in a piano trio with violinist Gil Shaham and cellist Truls Mørk. He works constantly!

Next Saturday, March 18, 2023 Yefim Brownfman will make a long-overdue return to CMDetroit, in a solo recital just 23 days before his 65th birthday. (Originally planned for April 2020, it was postponed due to the pandemic.)  His program includes works of Schubert, the rarely heard Opus 143 Sonata in A minor, with its explosive finish; Schumann, his Opus 26 Faschingsschwank aus Wien (or "Carnaval Prank from Vienna"); and Chopin, the lovely D-flat major Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2 and the epic B minor Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 58.  

If you'd like a sneak preview, here's Mr. Bronfman in the Chopin Sonata from a performance last fall in the Republic of Georgia:

If you need an extra reason to join us for Yefim Bronfman's much-anticipated recital, it's this: at the concert on March 18 we will be announcing the eight concerts of the 2023-2024 Signature Series - our 80th Anniversary Season! 

So please join us next Saturday, either in person or online - just a simple click away on the button below...

Thanks for being a part of it - we’ll see you at the concerts!

Steve Wogaman, President
Chamber Music Detroit
313-335-3350, ext. 4 or Steve@CMDetroit.org