Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (2006)

Music Hall, Cincinnati. USA. Awadagin Pratt, piano. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi   |   May 13th and 14th 2011

[...] Premiered in 2006 by pianist Thomas Larcher and the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra under Järvi (also music director in Frankfurt), Tüür’s Concerto exhibits the same limitless sonic imagination as “Fireflower.” Pratt was literally all over the keys, from bottom to top of the piano’s range, as he interacted with the orchestra.  Composed without a break, the music unfolds in waves of color, like light bent through a prism, or bolts of multi-colored fabric.

Pratt began with an emphatic low note on the piano, which seemed to bleed into the double basses and timpani, like ink spreading through the water.  As the piano rose into a higher register, the brasses blew through their instruments, giving the texture an unforgettable “open” effect.

As the instrumental voices accumulated, the piano kept weaving among them, often with difficult repeated note figures, and there was considerable rhythmic interaction with the strings.  Colors were vivid, Tüür creating an almost pitch black sonority at one point, utilizing low brasses and piano.  As the work progressed, the piano came increasingly to the fore, and there was a long, almost rhapsodic piano solo, touchingly conveyed by Pratt. 

The wave-like motion grew turbulent, almost violent midway in the 25-minute piece, and one could hear that repeated note motif being passed around the orchestra (timpani, xylophone).  A little jazz riff, beginning in the double basses, led into somewhat calmer waters. There was a brief, lullaby-like interlude by the piano over a sustained bass note before the waves begin to smooth out toward the end.  Again, the brasses blew through their instruments.  It was like a cool breeze after a storm, or a safe harbor at last. 

“Fireflower” and the Piano Concerto are the eighth and ninth works by Tüür to be introduced to Cincinnati audiences by his fellow Estonian Järvi.  It is a rich legacy and one well suited for a virtuoso orchestra like the CSO.  Tüür, who is in town for this weekend’s concerts, is without doubt one of today’s greatest sonic artists, in a direct line from Berlioz, Mahler and such 20^th-century masters as Stravinsky and Edgar Varese. Don’t take your eye off him, Cincinnati. [...]