Ravinia 2019, Issue 5, Week 9

8:00 PM FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019 PAVILION CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA RAFAEL PAYARE, conductor EMANUEL AX, piano BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”) Allegro con brio Marcia funebre: Adagio assai Scherzo: Allegro vivace Finale: Allegro molto—Poco andante –Intermission– BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2 Allegro non troppo Allegro appassionato Andante Allegretto grazioso Emanuel Ax Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of Featured Sponsor The Negaunee Foundation . Emanuel Ax’s appearance is made possible in part by the Maxine M. Hunter Guest Artist Fund . YEFIM BRONFMAN, piano Born in Soviet Uzbekistan, in 1973 Yefim Bron- fman emigrated to Israel, where he began piano studies at Tel Aviv University with Arie Vardi. He continued his musical development at The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute, and Marl- boro—working with Rudolf Firkušný, Leon Fleisher, and Rudolf Serkin—and in 1978 he made his debut with the NewYork Philharmonic (where he was an artist-in-residence for its 2013– 14 season). Soon after, Bronfman also made re- cital debuts in Washington, DC, (at the Kenne- dy Center) and New York (at the 92nd Street Y). In 1989 he made his Carnegie Hall debut, and two years later he was awarded the Avery Fish- er Prize and gave his first return performances in Russia with Isaac Stern. As a chamber mu- sician, Bronfman has a long-standing partner- ship with violinist Pinchas Zukerman, and his performance partners have also included pianist Martha Argerich, soprano Magdalena Kožená, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, and flutist Em- manuel Pahud, among many others. He has also been a soloist with such ensembles as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics; the Royal Concert- gebouw, Tonhalle, Philharmonia, Philadelphia, and Cleveland Orchestras; the Dresden Staats- kapelle; and the Chicago, Boston, Houston, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras. Bronfman won a Grammy Award in 1997 for his recording of Bartók’s piano concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, whose piano concerto he featured on his 2009 Gram- my-nominated recording on Deutsche Gram- mophon. He most recently earned a Grammy nomination in 2014 with Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 2, commissioned for him by and recorded alongside the New York Philhar- monic. His discography also includes concertos by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Tchaikovsky; Beethoven’s “Triple” Concerto with violinist Gil Shaham and cellist Truls Mørk; and Prokofiev’s complete piano sonatas and concertos (nomi- nated for Grammy and Gramophone Awards). In 2010 he was bestowed Northwestern Univer- sity’s Jean Gimbel Lane Prize, and in 2015 re- ceived an honorary doctorate from the Manhat- tan School of Music. Tonight Yefim Bronfman marks his 14th season at Ravinia, where he has regularly appeared since 1984. RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 29 – AUGUST 4, 2019 100