Bavouzet at Kumho Art Hall on August 28
Bronfman at Lotte Concert Hall in September
Solo recitals by master pianists are set to take place one after another.
French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, known as a "Ravel specialist," will perform at Kumho Art Hall on August 28. Meanwhile, Yefim Bronfman, the Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist hailed as the "pianist's pianist," will hold a solo recital at Lotte Concert Hall on September 21.
Bavouzet is renowned for his interpretations of French composers such as Ravel and Debussy. He is regarded as a pianist who has inherited the tradition of the French piano school from Pierre Sancan. In particular, he is highly praised for his Ravel interpretations. This April, marking the 150th anniversary of Ravel's birth, he released a complete recording of Ravel's solo piano works. Last year, during his visit to Korea, he left a strong impression by performing both of Ravel's piano concertos with the National Symphony Orchestra.
Bavouzet boasts an illustrious list of awards, including accolades from Gramophone, Diapason, and BBC Music Magazine. Notably, he has won the Gramophone Award three times: for his 2009 complete Debussy solo piano works album, his 2011 Debussy and Ravel concerto album, and his 2014 Prokofiev piano concerto album.
In this upcoming concert, Bavouzet plans to showcase his strengths. In the first half, he will perform works by Schumann and Haydn, while the second half will be dedicated exclusively to Ravel. The program includes "Pavane for a Dead Princess," "La Valse," and from the five-piece suite "Miroirs," he will play No. 3 "A Boat on the Ocean" and No. 4 "Alborada del gracioso," among others.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Bronfman's debut. He was born in 1958 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 15. At 17, in 1975, he made his international debut performing with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta.
In 2023, Bronfman performed Liszt's Piano Concerto with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) at Lotte Concert Hall. The hall's management, highly impressed by his performance, invited him for a solo recital, leading to this upcoming concert. This will be Bronfman's first solo recital in Korea in 24 years, since 2001.
Bronfman received the Avery Fisher Prize, the most prestigious music award in the United States, in 1991. In 1997, he won the Grammy Award in the Concerto category for his recording of Bartok's piano concertos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Bronfman is acclaimed for his mastery of Russian composers' music, as well as for his extensive repertoire. In this recital, he will perform works by a variety of composers.
In the first half, he will present music by Romantic composers Schumann and Brahms, performing Schumann's "Arabesque" and Brahms' Piano Sonata No. 3. In the second half, he will play Debussy's "Images, Book II" and Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7.
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