Brahms was coy about his Second Piano Concerto, describing it as a "tiny piano concerto with a tiny, tiny wisp of a scherzo". With imagery that could resonate with our farming sector, he even wondered if he had "worked this udder, which has always yielded good milk before,
too often and too vigorously".
Russian pianist Yefim Bronfman revealed just how ironic the composer was being when he played the concerto with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra on Sunday.
From the first page, trading phrases with Edward Allen's exultant horn, this was a magisterial performance, the likes of which would be rare on the European or American circuit.
Bronfman's secret is that he knows how to take his time. In the first movement, his often phlegmatic approach let the work's considerable emotions speak for themselves, while conductor Jacques Lacombe worked for the utmost passion from yearning strings.
Bronfman's Scherzo was as "appassionato" as one would want, yet there were later passages of lingering delicacy.
The slow movement found cellist David Chickering at his considerable best. Listening to his gorgeous duetting with Bronfman, they might have been seasoned chamber music partners.
The Finale saw the Russian once again showing the wisdom of following instructions. Brahms tags "a grazioso" on to his Allegro and Bronfman's elegant phrasing kept it there. A shapely, understated Scarlatti Sonata was the perfect envoi.
After interval, Dvorak's New World Symphony exhibited the sort of adrenalin that has been coursing around Beijing sports venues of late.
If the first movement laid out a full Technicolor vista, with the brass at their lustiest, the Largo came home with just the right plein-air naturalness and the Scherzo registered with the ideal textural transparency.
Lacombe did not spare his energies with the symphony's full-on Finale, although quieter moments, such as the final one-note fade-out, were scrupulously judged.
Bronfman we will have to follow on CD but Aucklanders should not miss Lacombe with the NZSO National Youth Orchestra when they visit us at the end of the month.
