In Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain, pianist Yefim Bronfman is featured as a performer at Tanglewood, where he makes an indelible impression on the narrator. “Bronfman the brontosaur! He is a force of nature camouflaged in a sweatshirt — the circus strongman — Yefim Bronfman looks less like the person who is going to play the piano than like the guy who should be moving it.” Indeed, the stocky, Russian-born virtuoso extraordinaire is a powerhouse of technique and emotion, and nowhere is this more evident than in Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. “Fima,” as he's affectionately known, has been described as “tearing down house after house” with his by-now-famous renditions of this massively difficult, supremely beautiful work, and his next demolition job will be the Hollywood Bowl at Bronfman Plays Brahms, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lionel Bringuier, conductor. The program also includes Edward Elgar's towering, cryptic Enigma Variations. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave.; Tues., July 31, 8 p.m.; $1.75-$145. (323) 850-2000, hollywoodbowl.com.

Tue., July 31, 8 p.m., 2012

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