Page 399 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

Both concerts began with a Mozart Symphony (No.31 on Thursday and 32 on Sunday) and
ended with Sibelius’ 1st Symphony. On Thursday evening these pieces accompanied the
World Premiere of Gavin Bryars’ new Harpsichord Concerto and on Sunday afternoon the
Organ Concerto by Poulenc.

Harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, who is becoming a favourite to Liverpool audiences, has had

several new works for the instrument commissioned either for or by him. Gavin Bryars’
offering is a co-commission between the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Orchestre
Nationale de Lyon. Scored for a sizeable orchestra by harpsichord concerto standards,
including a complement of tuned percussion, it is also a large-scale work, running to almost
30 minutes in a more or less unbroken span.

More than anything, Bryars’ concerto calls to mind that of Frank Martin, with its sinuous,
almost insidious winding figures for the soloist that chase their own tails around and around
amidst the eerie backdrop of orchestral sound. Playing on his own bespoke, modern
instrument, which was subtly assisted by some electronic amplification, Esfahani brought a
wide range of colour and texture to the sound, but the musical material itself remained almost
static and unchanging throughout, making for a mesmerising rather than thrilling effect
overall, finally disappearing into the same swirling mists that it emerged from. In tribute to

the concert’s dedicatee Maurice Henry George, Esfahani played a short Elegy by Richard
Rodney Bennett as an encore.

On Sunday, in complete contrast to the meditations of Thursday’s Bryars, organist Ian Tracey
quite literally pulled out all the stops in an attempt to blow the roof off Philharmonic Hall in
a performance of Poulenc’s Organ Concerto. Delayed from last year, this performance was

planned to showcase the hall’s Rushworth and Draeper organ, which has recently undergone
a major two-year refurbishment by Henry Willis & Sons. And what a showcase it finally
proved to be, with Poulenc’s music affording opportunities for light and shade, melodic
beauty and real theatrics. It is a work that has all the Gallic sophistication of some of the
greatest organ masters, but also manages to fit in good doses of Poulenc’s own trademark wit.
There might be a touch of the Keystone Cops here and there, but there is a much bigger
presence of the Abominable Dr. Phibes in some of its declamatory fanfares. It is great to hear

the organ punching back at its original weight again after decades of being under-powered
and Tracey, who had a major hand in the refurbishment and re-voicing of the instrument,
was clearly having enormous fun in showing off its range of colour. The orchestra, too,
appeared to be having huge fun alongside him, with Manze’s direction matching Tracey’s
shifts of mood in a work that is largely dark and mysterious with flashes of wicked humour.

The concerto was preceded by an arrangement for organ and orchestra of Gigout’s
celebratory Grand Choeur Dialogue. A great organ showpiece, this arrangement oddly gives