Magnus Lindberg’s Second Piano Concerto was written for Yefim Bronfman and the New York Philharmonic, who gave the first performance under Alan Gilbert in 2012. That orchestra’s composer in residence at the time, Lindberg now holds the same job with the London Philharmonic, who gave the concerto its UK premiere last Saturday, again with Bronfman, but this time with Vladimir Jurowski conducting.
Lindberg’s fondness for Bronfman’s interpretations of Bartók and Rachmaninov dictates the work’s scope and style. This is a big, glamorous score that pushes at the boundaries of tradition without crossing them. Its three-part, single-movement structure harks back to Liszt. The scoring is very American, all big-band swagger and clarinet turns out of Rhapsody in Blue.
Its arduous, grand-manner piano writing gives Bronfman little respite, as he negotiates hammering toccatas, muscular allegros and a series of punishing accompanied cadenzas, now reflective, now assertive, that form the work’s central section. It’s an important addition to the mainstream, though whether other pianists will be able to replicate Bronfman’s formidable way with it remains to be seen. On exceptional form at the moment, the LPO sounded svelte.
Jurowski flanked it with Prokofiev’s Chout and Stravinsky’s Petrushka. Chout was intended as comedy, though prefigurations of Romeo and Juliet and The Fiery Angel make it seem deadly serious: a little goes a long way, and Jurowski’s choice of five extracts was more than enough. Petrushka was given complete in its original 1911 scoring rather than the leaner 1947 revision. The urban hubbub of the outer scenes could have been more electric. But the central depiction of Petrushka’s soul in crisis found Jurowski at his considerable best, and was disquieting in the extreme.
