PERFORMERS

Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC)
Pablo González, conductor
Arcadi Volodos, piano

WORKS

BRAHMS: Piano concerto no. 2
BLAI SOLER: Plain-Chant
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony no. 1

Only the ironic humour of Johannes Brahms would dare to define his grandiose Piano Concerto no. 2 in B flat major as a “little concerto for pianoforte with a light air of scherzo”. It's quite some quip, as it is one of the densest and longest concertos ever created for the instrument.
This great bible of sound is a dialogue without victors between soloist and orchestra (critic Eduard Hanslick sarcastically called it “a symphony with compulsory piano”), a monument rich in inexhaustible lyricism. Every work by Barcelona composer Blai Soler (1977), of whom the OBC is offering a seasonal portrait, represents a new formal challenge: commissioned by the prestigious London Philharmonic Orchestra, Plain-Chant (2011) is a reflection on the micro-tonality of a captivating intensity.
Despite being a tentative written foray when the composer was just 19 years old, Shostakovich's First represents a good prelude to the grotesque humour and agonising lyricism of the great later work of the Russian genius.