Yefim Bronfman
Pianist Yefim Bronfman has been a fixture of concert stages, especially in the U.S., since becoming an American citizen in 1989. He is especially admired for his performances of modern Russian repertory, in which he balances pianistic fireworks with the moody introspection common to many of the works of the otherwise diverse Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
Bronfman was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, then part of the Soviet Union, on April 10, 1958. He had his first lessons from his mother, a piano teacher by trade. The family emigrated to Israel in 1973, and the teenaged Yefim began piano studies at Tel Aviv University. After just two years of work with teacher Arie Vardi, he was ready for a prestigious international debut with the Montreal Symphony under Zubin Mehta. Bronfman rounded out his studies in the U.S. at the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute, and the Marlboro Festival; private teachers included Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin. In 1978, he made his debut with the New York Philharmonic, and his recital debuts in New York and in Washington, D.C., were equally prestigious: they occurred at the 92nd Street Y and the Kennedy Center, respectively.
Since then, Bronfman's touring schedule has included stops at most of the world's major concert halls. His consistent popularity has dovetailed with that of Russian music generally, and he has recorded all five Prokofiev piano concertos and all seven of the composer's technically fearsome sonatas. However, his repertoire extends as far back as the music of Domenico Scarlatti, and he was given a Grammy Award in 1997 for his recordings of Bartók's three piano concertos with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has notched several other Grammy and Gramophone award nominations. Bronfman records for Sony, where he released a two-piano collaboration with Emanuel Ax, featuring music by Rachmaninov. He has also been an enthusiastic chamber music player. Two high points of his career came in 1991: he returned that year to Russia for the first time since his youth, and he was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize. In 2000, he reached wider audiences when his performance of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102, was featured in the film Fantasia 2000; he performed the work live at special screenings of the film in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo. Bronfman's performance of the two Shostakovich concertos was released in conjunction with the film. A description of Bronfman appeared in Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain (2000). A steady stream of recordings included the 2006 Rachmaninoff Collection; 2008's Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50; and Brahms & Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 (2011). In 2013, his set of Prokofiev concertos was reissued by Sony Classical. Bronfman accompanied Shlomo Mintz in a recording of Prokofiev violin sonatas on Deutsche Grammophon in 2019, and mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená on the album Nostalgia on PentaTone Classics in 2021.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Schnittke: Concerto for Piano and Strings - Prokofiev: Symphony No. 2
The Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Möst, Yefim Bronfman
Symphonies - Released by Cleveland Orchestra on 5 Nov 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: The 3 Piano Concertos
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 11 Sep 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Firsova: Piano Concerto
Yefim Bronfman, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Jakub Hrůša
Concertos - Released by Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on 1 Dec 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nostalgia
Magdalena Kožená, Yefim Bronfman
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 9 Oct 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2, 3, 5 & 9
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 30 Oct 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Orchestral Works (Live)
Yefim Bronfman, Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Hannes Laubin, Mariss Jansons
Classical - Released by BR-Klassik on 4 Mar 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos 2 & 3
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 18 Aug 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37b, Balakirev: Islamey
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 26 Oct 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances & Suites for 2 Pianos
Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 25 Oct 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hillborg: Kongsgaard Variations
San Francisco Symphony, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yefim Bronfman
Classical - Released by SFS Media on 13 Oct 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yefim Bronfman
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 18 Aug 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Sonatas Op. 120, No. 1 & No. 2 and Reinecke Sonata Op. 167
Emmanuel Pahud, Yefim Bronfman
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 29 Dec 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in F Minor - Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in D
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 5 Apr 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Yefim Bronfman plays Brahms
Classical - Released by EuroArts Music International on 10 Nov 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances & Suites for 2 Pianos
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 25 Oct 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Magnus Lindberg : EXPO - Concerto pour piano n° 2 - Al largo
New York Philharmonic, Yefim Bronfman, Alan Gilbert
Keyboard Concertos - Released by Dacapo on 7 May 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1, 4 & 6
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 14 Jun 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Perspectives
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 10 Dec 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Lieder & Liebeslieder Waltzes (Live)
Magdalena Kožená, Andrea Rost, Matthew Polenzani, Thomas Quasthoff, James Levine, Yefim Bronfman
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 10 Jun 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Salonen: WIng on Wing; Dichotomie
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Yefim Bronfman
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Piano Quintet
Yefim Bronfman, Juilliard String Quartet, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 15 Nov 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo