Yefim Bronfman. Photo by
Dario Acosta
Grammy-winning pianist Yefim Bronfman will join the Asheville Symphony Orchestra (ASO) to open the 2017–2018 Masterworks Season with a performance of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. The concert will take place Sunday, September 24, at 4 p.m. in Thomas Wolfe Auditorium under the direction of Daniel Meyer.
“We are honored to collaborate with one of the world’s most highly regarded pianists,” says Meyer, ASO music director. “To have such an artist collaborate with us on our opening night signals that the ASO has arrived as a major player on the international music scene.”
Bronfman has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, winning in 1997 for a recording of the three Bartok Piano Concerti. An acclaimed soloist, he is a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, one of the highest honors given to American instrumentalists. This fall he will open the Israel Philharmonic’s season with Zubin Mehta.
Emperor, which was composed during Napoleon’s siege of Vienna, was Beethoven’s fifth and final piano concerto. Given its name by one of its publishers for its regal tone, the concerto has earned a reputation for its technical difficulty as well as its beauty. Liszt’s Les préludes, one of the earliest and most beloved examples of a symphonic poem, will follow the concerto. The piece is a continuous movement that utilizes each section of the orchestra to develop a lush and powerful sound. The evening will end with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol, an orchestral suite that spotlights the individual soloists as well as each section as a virtuoso group.
“I wanted to choose works that show off the virtuosity and vibrant sound of the Asheville Symphony,” says Meyer. “Les préludes is an epic-sounding, powerful musical statement from the Romantic era, which will show how well the orchestra sounds as an ensemble. Capriccio espagnol is a showpiece that gives the individual sections and soloists from within the orchestra a chance to shine.”
Thomas Wolfe Auditorium is located at 87 Haywood Street in Asheville. Single tickets for all ASO concerts are $24-$69 depending on seating section. Reduced youth pricing is available. Single tickets and season ticket packages can be purchased at ashevillesymphony.org, by calling 828.254.7046, or in person at the U.S. Cellular Center box office at 87 Haywood Street.
