Legendary pianist Yefim Bronfman performs heavy-hitting program at the Orpheum, April 16

By jessica werb

Acclaimed Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist will present rich repertoire spanning the 19th century to the present day.

Yefim Bronfman.

Vancouver Chopin Society presents Yefim Bronfman at the Orpheum on April 16 at 7:30 p.m.

THE VANCOUVER CHOPIN SOCIETY’S concerts usually take place in the intimate Vancouver Playhouse. But next Tuesday, it’s taking over the Orpheum Theatre, which boasts four times the capacity and a heavier dose of grandeur.

The move comes down to the big name on the program: Yefim Bronfman, the legendary pianist who has been described in the international press as “a marvel of digital dexterity”, “an Olympian of the piano”—and, perhaps most memorably, as “the brontosaur! Mr. Fortissimo” by novelist Philip Roth.

If the program is anything to go by, the evening looks to be an epic one, featuring works by Romantic titans Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Frederic Chopin; contemporary composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen; and 20th century giant Sergei Prokofiev.

Audiences will be treated to Schubert’s emotive Sonata in A Minor; Schumann’s five-movement celebration of Viennese Mardi Gras, Faschingsschwank aus Wien Op. 26; Salonen’s capricious Sisar, composed in 2012 for Bronfman himself; and Prokofiev’s virtuosic and disquieting Piano Sonata No. 7 in B Flat Major, Op. 83, the second of the composer’s War Sonatas.

While Bronfman is no stranger to Vancouver audiences, he’s often here sharing the spotlight with others—be it an orchestra or chamber music colleagues. Here, it will just be him, a piano, and plenty of bravado. Stir assumes no responsibility for any minds blown. 

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