Nightmare on Fima Street
mainYefim Bronfman is having a bad month. First he cancelled Oregon with a middle-ear infection. Now he’s out of Los Angeles with – more serious – a broken finger.
He may be out for a while. Wish him better.
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Fima was wonderful in Berkeley, playing Brahms’s piano sonata No. 3 in F major, three selections from Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes, Prokofiev’s piano sonata No, 8 in B-flat major. Then he played a number of encores, finished with Chopin’s C minor etude (“Military”. The stage was so dark that when he entered from the wings, he looked like a ghost. The audience was very enthusiastic, but the house was by no mean full. I was sorry, because it was a tremendous performance, and many of his fellow Russians were in attendance. His solo concert at Davies in San Francisco sold out. What’s the matter with the people in the east bay? Or for that matter, those in San Francisco, who could have hopped on BART to get there, as I did.
Maybe the broken finger is a blessing in disguise for a world-class performer who is also a world-class traveler, playing an astonishing number of performances and going just about anywhere to do do, even Singapore and New Zealand in 2008. He is not only a phenomenal pianist but also a brilliant and exceedingly nice person. No doubt many around the world are hold a good thought for the healing of his finger.
How did he break his finger???? How can a pianist break his finger? As my Russian teacher would say, “How dare he?”.
Wish him well of course. He is a treasure of a pianist.
Apparently he broke it at the conclusion of the Prokofiev last Tuesday, all the more remarkable since he returned for the Chopin encores. Having been at the performance, I’m actually suprised it didn’t happen during the Liszt. It was a stellar recital and here’s wishing him well.