A finely modulated musicality pervaded his interpretation whenever Prokofiev gave him the opportunity, but the concerto is mostly a showpiece to display a dazzling technique, and Bronfman was up to the task, hands flying up and down the keyboard in neck-breakingly fast scales or in giant block chords.

Bronfman even brought a touch of, shall we say, creativity to the proceedings, by missing the last note of the first movement, a fortissimo ending which he landed slightly off, only to rebound one octave lower on an improvised, yet perfectly fitting ending. The whole thing happened so smoothly, so naturally, and Bronfman was so impassive, that we even doubt it ever happened. So pleased was the audience, it broke convention to applaud in-between movements. Yet MTT could not stop chuckling at his virtuoso for such clever resourcefulness and had to extend the break a little bit so he could regain his composure.

Yefim Bronfman, picture by Deborah Feingold