Barbican on fire with Seong Chin Cho and the LSO under Maxime Pascal with the world premiere of Donghoon Shin’s Piano Concerto commissioned by the LSO Together with world premieres of two works commissioned by the Helen Hamlyn Panufnik Composers Scheme by Omri Kochavi and Sasha Scott.
Two ten minute works of great effect but it was the thirty minute piano concerto that stole the show . A work influenced by the duel personalities of Schumann, a composer who Shin confesses to an undying love of his piano works .
In fact the opening flourishes of the concerto are reminiscent of the A minor concerto op 54 . Eric Morcombe’s famous reply to Andre Previn could be applied here except the notes are in the same order but just different, to put it mildly ! Direct quotes from the Schumann Fantasy appeared during the quieter passages of a concerto that Cho must have spent months mastering . Atmospheric opening sounds were transformed into a virtuoso cadenza obviously based on Prokofiev’s second and as Cho had shown us in this hall quite recently,were played with overwhelming daring and masterly control.
Cho visibly exhausted left the stage and was brought back by his friend Shin to share in the ovation that awaited all concerned .
An ovation as rarely seen in this hall especially for contemporary composers but above all directed at Cho who very wisely shut the piano lid to show that enough was enough and it was time to put the piano to bed.
A superb performance of the work that Boulez wrote as a memorial to Bruno Maderna filled the second half . It demonstrated the absolute mastery of the LSO players as there was a pitched battle between ten groups called to arms by the striking of gongs of varying intensity . Every strand of music, the masterly conductor Maxime Pascal told us, was a prayer dedicated to Boulez’s friend and colleague Bruno Moderna .
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 