Carnegie Hall: Rohatyn Room Reception

As a subscriber to the Met Orchestra series, I was invited by Carnegie Hall to a post-concert reception held in the Rohatyn Room on the First Tier level immediately following the end of the Sunday afternoon's performance.

Light refreshments were offered along with complimentary glasses of wine.  What made the event special, though, was the appearance of the concert's soloist, Yefim Bronfman.  Mr. Bronfman has long been one of the pianists for whom I've held the highest regard, and I think it would be fair to say he's on anyone's short list of the ten most highly accomplished pianists now active.

Following an introduction by the Hall's artistic director, Mr. Bronfman took a few brief questions from the attendees.  As I own a copy of the pianist's recording, with the Juilliard Quartet, of the Shostakovich Piano Quintet and also knew that Mr. Bronfman would be performing the Prokofiev sonatas in recital next season, I took advantage of the opportunity to ask if he felt he had a particular affinity for the Russian repertoire.  I knew that although Mr. Bronfman had been born in Uzbekistan at a time when it was still part of the U.S.S.R.,  he had emigrated to Israel when only age 15 and had later become an American citizen.  I was curious how this background had affected his feelings for the Russian music to which he must first have been exposed.

At such an event, it was of course impossible for the pianist to answer any questions in detail.  He did agree, though, that he indeed felt he possessed a strong affinity for Russian music and noted what great contributions Russian composers had made to the repertoire.  He also mentioned that he hadn't performed any Russian works this season other than the Tchaikovsky Third Concerto.

In answer to questions from other attendees, Mr. Bronfman talked of the difficulties he sometimes encountered in working with orchestras other than the Met as there occasionally exist difficulties in communication between soloist and conductor that render performances problematical.  He then went on to extol the virtues of the Met Orchestra and claimed that he had experienced no artistic differences of opinion whatsoever when working with James Levine in preparation for this performance.

There really weren't any surprises at the reception, but it was gratifying enough to have a chance to converse, however briefly, with such a consummate artist.  I'm grateful to Carnegie Hall for having staged the event and hope there will be more such functions next season.