Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No.2 for solo piano and orchestra Op.36 (1992) c.30'00"

(3.2.3.3./4.3.3.1./timp/perc(3)/hp/cel/strings)

I. Allegro Moderato
II. Presto
III. Adagio
IV. Allegro

Commissioned by the Steinway Foundation

Dedicated to Stephen Hough

First performed on June 11th, 1992 at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC by Stephen Hough, piano with The National Symphony conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich

RECORDINGS

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REVIEWS

“For me, there are few things more exilharating than discovering a new piece of music that bowls you over. That happened Friday at the…Dallas premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s Second Piano Concerto. It is more than a knockout. It is among the best works of its kind in this century. This grand, swashbuckling work is brilliantly put together - not a seam to be seen. It is big, bold and exciting. I cannot imagine how it might fail to become a repertory piece.”
The Dallas Morning News

“…perhaps the best piece in the genre since Samuel Barber’s concerto 30 years ago. The composer was Lowell Liebermann, and his Piano Concerto No.2…brought a knowledgeable audience of 2,000 music professionals from the league convention to its feet in cheers. Liebermann, a 31-year-old Juilliard-trained composer, knows how to write lyrically without sounding as if he is condescending - no small trick nowadays. The whole piece struck with the force of a superbly constructed narrative…The writing for the piano is terrific throughout, much of it…is breathtaking.”
The Baltimore Sun

”Lowell Liebermann’s Piano Concerto No.2, played by Stephen Hough, took up the evening’s second half. This pianist has everything, and he was given almost as much to do in Mr. Liebermann’s score. From the 16 measures of crystalline arpeggios in the opening thought the fiendish virtuosity of the final pages, this was bravura playing of some very demanding and attractive music.”
The Washington Times

“…the Piano Concerto No.2, Op.36, by 31-year-old Lowell Liebermann is a rousing showpiece. Keyboard writing in the Concerto No.2 is virtuosic throughout…Without question, Liebermann’s is an extremely attractive piece, electrifying even. No apologies are needed for a work this confident and beautiful.”
Piano Quarterly

“The Second Concerto…offers further evidence of Liebermann’s brilliant command of orchestral color. The material here is handled in an assured and convincing manner, with many opportunities for bravura as well as reflection.”
Hi Fi News & Record Review

“Extravagant in expression, Piano Concerto No.2 Op.36 nonetheless maintains a rigorous structural unity. The composer conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony and the performances are brilliant.”
The Indianapolis Star

“The American composer Lowell Liebermann (born 1961) has been demonstrating that it is still possible to write music that audiences actually like to hear without condescending, “dumbing down,” or compromising creative standards or individuality…The unabashed romantic exuberance of Liebermann’s four-movement Second Concerto, with a wickedly playful little scherzo and a similarly brief and energetic finale framing the striking passacaglia slow movement, made it the clear audience favorite. Here was music, brilliantly idiomatic in the writing for both piano and orchestra, that embraced the tunefulness and vivid coloring of Rachmaninoff and Liszt, yet was in no sense a bag of clichés or a rejection of contemporary language. Its muscularity and drive appeared neither sardonic nor belligerent, but seemed to be a manifestation of a definitely upbeat vitality.”
Stereo Review