No Lullaby: Noted pianist to tackle demanding concerto

The Colorado Springs Philharmonic tackles one of the peaks of the concerto literature this weekend, when pianist Norman Krieger joins the orchestra for Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2.

“You can’t get much better — or more challenging,” said the California-based pianist in a recent phone interview.

Audiences can appreciate the piece’s grandeur and deep emotion, filled with Brahmsian longing. But only pianists fully appreciate the 45-minute concerto’s physical challenges — which approach the level of flashier virtuoso vehicles such as the Rachmaninoff concertos. Part of it is the piece’s sheer size — including a four-movement structure that’s extremely rare in the concerto literature.

“For my own sanity, I don’t even look at the scherzo as a movement,” said Krieger. “I think of the first two movements as one entity.”

The movements themselves are long, requiring enormous physical and musical control to be coherent.

“There are these tremendously long lines and buildups with textures that start way in the bass,” said Krieger. He said it’s important to pace them: “If one beats the hell out of the piano at that point, you have nowhere to go.”

And then there are the first movement’s thrilling octave trills — a never-ending challenge to pianists.

Over the phone, Krieger demonstrates two ways of playing them: The brighter, clangier approach he’d use in Rachmaninoff, and the mellower, richer sound he prefers for Brahms. “It’s important to match the intensity of the strings,” he said.

Krieger has played in Colorado Springs before, but this will be his first performance with conductor Lawrence Leighton Smith.

The first, that is, in which Krieger is playing. “I turned pages for him when I was 12 or 13 years old,” said Krieger. “He was playing for Pinchas Zuckerman.

I remember what an incredible pianist he was.” But Smith said the page-turner has surpassed

the master, at least with regard to Brahms. “Never played it and never will,” said Smith of the concerto — but he’s conducted it several times, and is looking forward to the partnership with Krieger.

The program also includes Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 — nicknamed the “Unfinished” because Schubert completed only two movements. “Nothing could be finer than to play that little piece,” said Smith. If Smith has a tinge of regret about the program, it’s the opener — Bizet’s overture, “Patrie!”

“It’s a nice piece,” he said. “It’s orchestrated wonderfully. But I feel a little guilty that there isn’t something more substantial in that space.”