Page 515 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

the music: the performers in conversation rather than competition. Premiered in a wartime Prom
in 1942 it has Maconchy’s characteristic rhythmic edge, once we are past the quite impassioned,
expressive opening "Lento". The "Allegro" that follows is crisply articulated by Martin Jones, the
wind soloists of the BBC Concert Orchestra revelling in the chamber-like textures. The
"Sostenuto" third movement is a serious movement, contemplative and furrow-browed, setting up
the sizzling toccata finale.

The two pieces by Elizabeth Lutyens (also played by Jones) are are cut from very different cloth
– both from the Maconchy and from each other. Eos (1975) is a dreamy soundscape, beautifully
paced by conductor John Andrews. The outbursts on brass and piano that emerge have a
whimsical and improvisatory character that is typical of Lutyens. She never goes out of her way
to be welcoming, but the combativeness is enticing. Music for Piano and Orchestra from 1964
has a more overtly Webernian language, once again the piano sitting within the ensemble, the
first among equals. And then there’s something completely different again: pianist Rebeca
Omordia plays Errollyn Wallen’s Piano Concerto, premiered in 2022. The first two movements
are substantial: a hyperactive ‘Presto’, which has plenty of pianistic challenges and a Bartókian
edge, followed by a smoky "Languid blues", with echoes of the Gershwin Piano Concerto. After
the meat of the piece there is are two short pay-offs: "Tender" is almost entirely still, "Joyful"
entirely not-still, channelling Malcolm Arnold in its anarchic energy. Bernard Hughes