Ranked among the greatest pianists of our generation, it is always a treat when Sir Stephen Hough comes to Portland. This time around, Hough demonstrated his compositional talent and his keyboard prowess with his piano concerto, “the world of yesterday,” which he performed (April 5) with the Oregon Symphony at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. It was sandwiched by two Mozart symphonies – an appropriate choice since Mozart was a brilliant pianist and composer – for a delicious full course meal served up by the orchestra under Music Director David Danzmayr.
Described accurately as a polymath, Hough has an impeccable resume that has been built on 70 recordings, multiple awards, Grammy nominations, a memoir, a collection of essays, a novel, and numerous compositions, and a strenuous performance schedule that takes him all over the world. I am not sure when or even if he sleeps.
While the stage was reset in order to bring the piano to the foreground, Hough talked with Danzmayr to introduce his concerto. It turns out that during the pandemic a cinematographer asked Hough to write a film score. But then the film fell through, and Hough decided to make the most of it, expanding the piece into a full-fledged concerto, which became “the world of yesterday.”
With such a title, I expected “the world of yesterday” to be a throwback to Rachmaninoff or another Romantic composer. To be sure, Hough’s concerto did have some splashy stuff, but it veered all over the place. Consisting of three movements – Prelude and Cadenza, Waltz Variations, and Tarantella Appassionata – the concerto opened as if in slow motion with rising tones that formed a broad statement from the orchestra with the piano mingling in. Then came a huge cadenza in which Hough served up an enticing mixture of dissonant and harmonic lines that finally settled on that latter side. The orchestra reentered with a waltz theme, which was accompanied by humorous darting and dashing passages that reminded of a bit of Saint-Saëns. In the last movement, Hough created a panoply of sparkling sounds, riffing all over the keyboard at breakneck speed to create a sonic blitz that was etched at times with the flute, piccolo, and percussion. The snare drum accompanied Hough into the final bars with gusto.
The audience reacted with long, sustained applause, which drew Hough back to the keyboard. He completely changed the mood with a lovely and soothing arrangement of “Feed the Birds” from “Mary Poppins.” No one in the audience sang along, but I’m sure that some did in their minds.
The orchestra played Mozart’s Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major and his Symphony No. 41 in C Major, “Jupiter.” Only 24 years separate the two works – with Mozart writing his first symphony at age 8 and his final one at age 32 – and both sounded absolutely fresh and invigorating.
Crisp tempos and finely honed dynamics made Mozart’s First Symphony delightful. I really enjoyed the accented notes that punctuated some phrases, and how the lower strings added a bit of gravitas with slowly climbing lines in the second movement. Of course, Mozart wrapped it up with a joyful final movement.
The “Jupiter Symphony” received superb treatment by the orchestra, which played with great intensity and commitment. The tempos were excellent, and superb dynamic contrasts enhanced the music. The third movement suggested a kind of orchestral taffy pull when themes were exchanged between string sections, and the fourth concluded the work with the melodies lining up and an emphatic gallop.
Final thought: There may be a special connection between Danzmayr and Mozart since Salzburg is their hometown. It would be fun to hear what he might do with a Mozart opera.
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