Piano Concerto 2

(Concert review)

Review: A Case for Understated Majesty at the Philharmonic

By Joshua Barone

I always wince when people say they like classical music, “but not the new stuff.”

Comments like that are not only shortsighted — the old stuff was, in its time, of course new and often radical — but they also don’t take into account how varied contemporary music is, and how much of it is actually quite easy to love.

Take Anders Hillborg’s second piano concerto, “The MAX Concerto,” which had its local premiere with the New York Philharmonic on Thursday. Programmed somewhat arbitrarily between works by Sibelius and Rachmaninoff, it was more entertaining than either of them, and just as well crafted.

First performed in October in San Francisco, the concerto acknowledges the lineage of its genre with playfulness and reverence, and showcases Emanuel Ax, the soloist for whom it was written, by matching and pushing his brand of modest, underrated virtuosity. Likable without being eager to please, thrilling without shameless dazzle, it is, like Ax, enjoyable simply because it’s excellent.

And, crucially, Hillborg’s concerto works regardless of how familiar a listener is with his music, or any classical music for that matter. You could be aware of the piece’s form — its nine evocatively titled sections, performed as a single, 21-minute movement — or smile at “MAX,” a contraction of “Manny Ax.” You could pick up on the opening passage’s nod to Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, or a later suggestion of Bach. Or you could just sit back and sense, intuitively, the genial majesty and pleasure coursing through it all.

…Ax’s style can easily be taken for granted, and some have found in his playing a kind of boring affability, though that may be something closer to wisdom; not for nothing is he a remarkable Brahms interpreter. Hillborg, brilliantly, has composed a mirror of Ax’s pianism that resists grandiosity and theatrical gesture. While “The MAX Concerto” is difficult — the solo part uses nearly all of the keyboard and demands cool precision — it also unfurls with graceful restraint.

The strings, for instance, most often appear as glassy foundation, delicately suspended and lustrous. At times, they align with the winds to take on the full-bodied warmth of an organ, with droning tones that slowly morph into flaring, mighty radiance. The piano joins them, but later has the final word with a robust chord that requires all of Ax’s 10 fingers, yet, true to his sound, comes off with unshowy tenderness…

Piano Concerto 2

(Concert review)

Onsdagens Europapremiär av en redan reviderad ”The MAX concerto” leddes av Kungliga Filharmonikernas chefdirigent Ryan Bancroft, vars intresse för nutida svensk musik tycks både påläst och genuint.

Konserten är skriven i en enda lång sats och mindre präglad av de lätt identifierbara Hillborgblocken än många tidigare orkesterstycken. Likafullt är musiken indelad i tio sektioner med målande rubriker. Här finns bekanta grepp som imitationen av ett leksakspiano, men i regel med mindre påtaglig igenkänningsfaktor. Istället är det ekot mellan solistiska motiv och orkesterinstrument som fångar uppmärksamheten i denna eleganta och mer eftertänksamma pianokonsert. Emanuel Ax är i sin tur en tillbakalutat virtuos förvaltare av solostämman, där noterade friheter antyder en båge mellan impressionism, minimalism och jazz.

Johanna Paulsson, Dagens nyheter, 11 January 2024

Piano Concerto 2

(Concert review)

Anders Hillborg’s new piano concerto, written for Emanuel Ax, lit up Davies Symphony Hall with joyful insouciance and effortless creativity in its second performance on Friday evening. It was the highlight of a concert brimming with energetic music-making of the highest order.

‘The MAX Concerto’ – nicknamed by the Swedish composer to celebrate the eminent American pianist – burst out of the starting gate with grand arpeggios that harkened back to Beethoven and Grieg, then wended its way through fields of hazy chords, outbursts of pungent dissonance, devilishly complex piano finger-busters and a welcome range of dynamics and tempos. All of it shone with the exuberance and matter-of-fact virtuosity that have long characterized this pianist.

Although the orchestral colors and busy-ness might have made a delightful piece without the piano, every phrase dovetailed with whatever the piano was up to. Unlike most concertos, which figuratively pit the orchestra against the soloist, this one had a different aim. It got the entire team on the same side, encouraging each other at some points, soothing with achingly supple music at other times and revving up to big climaxes.

Harvey Steiman, Seen and Heard International, 15 October 2023

Piano Concerto 2

(Concert review)

Anders Hillborg’s “MAX Concerto” Is a Fascinating Ball of Fun

The music’s most remarkable and winning characteristic is the merging of the piano with sections of the orchestra. High jangling notes from the piano are matched with every chiming sound available from the percussion. Little piano motifs are played simultaneously by piccolo or other wind instruments. Active tumbling figures in the piano are set against sheens of string sound.

David Bratman, San Fransisco Classical Voice, 16 October 2023