SFS Premieres Hillborg’s Second Piano Concerto

Among the many ways in which San Francisco Symphony (SFS) Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen has presented audiences with new and engaging perspectives, his introduction to the music of Anders Hillborg is likely to be one of the most memorable. For many of us, the first introduction came during the annual Opening Night concert, which featured Hillborg’s “Rap Notes,” a genre mash-up that brought two rap vocalists together with a soprano that could sing only a few measures from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 620 opera The Magic Flute and repeated them ad infinitum. (One had to wonder if Hillborg designed roller coaster rides when he was not composing music.)

 

Esa-Pekka Salonon, Emanuel Ax, and Anders Hillborg taking their bows after the performance e of Hillborg’s second piano concerto (photograph by Brandon Patoc, courtesy of SFS)

Last night Davies Symphony Hall hosted the world premiere of Hillborg’s second piano concerto. This served as the “keystone” for the overture-concerto-symphony “arch,” with the orchestral version of Johannes Brahms’ Opus 56a “Variations on a Theme by Haydn” as overture and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 36 (second) symphony in D major following the intermission. The concerto was given the subtitle “The MAX Concerto,” which reflects the pianist for whom the concerto was written, Emanuel (Manny) Ax. The program book contained the following reflection on the subtitle by Hillborg himself: “It suggests–with the power of ALL CAPS–the exuberance and geniality of this outstanding pianist.”

Once again, the roller coaster was the metaphor for the music. The concerto is structured as a single movement unfolding as a sequence of episodes, a few of which recapitulate. If the score for the piano soloist is all over the keyboard, the accompanying instrumental resources are all over the map. They include a rich diversity of percussion instruments, which often add punctuation marks to the elaborate textures that Hillborg composed for the solo piano. In many respects the music came across as a reflection of a complex mechanical structure in which it was almost impossible to grasp not only the structural elements but also the plethora of connections. Nevertheless, there was nothing wrong with a “first contact” experience in which one could simply sit back and enjoy the parade of the diverse elements presented by Hillborg’s score.

It goes without saying that the concerto provided a sharp contrast to both the Brahms and Beethoven selections. The symphony tends to be neglected in most concert programming (unless the program is part of a series accounting for all of the Beethoven symphonies). Fortunately, Salonen had a firm command of the qualities of the underlying structure, bringing a freshness to the music that may have surprised many in the audience. He was similarly attentive to the diverse qualities of Brahms’ variations, but the performance hit its high point with the concluding chaconne. This was a perfect example of “gradual growth;” and the way in which Salonen allowed that growth to unfold was nothing short of jaw-dropping.