REVIEW: Bruce Liu Wins Hearts in NY Phil Debut

Feb 19

Feb 19 REVIEW: Bruce Liu Wins Hearts in NY Phil Debut

Above, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conductor, and Bruce Liu, pianist. Photo by Chris Lee.

February 15, 2024

“Hush!” The ladies seated near me in the audience of Geffen Hall were being shushed by the row in front of them. They were chattily swooning in admiration of pianist Bruce Liu, making his New York Philharmonic debut in Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, as he began his second encore of the night (a transcription of Bach). A rarely performed overture by Louise Farrenc and Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony completed the evening, the institution’s 17,000th concert, under the baton of Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, in his second week of concerts at the Philharmonic.

*Santtu-Matias Rouvali. Photo by Chris Lee.*

Louise Farrenc’s Overture No. 2 in E-Flat Major opened the program. Like her plentiful piano etudes and chamber music, the overture is elegantly crafted, technically unimpeachable, and useful, but ultimately, ersatz. The concert work teems with the turmoil of life in early nineteenth-century France, and was given an effervescent reading. Rouvali balanced the scene-setting, slow opening with the galloping action that follows. The woodwind section, in particular, floated over the bustling texture like a layer of whipped cream.

Rachmaninoff’s set of variations for piano and orchestra, composed in 1934, was just the piece to introduce those who missed his solo Carnegie Hall debut last season to heartthrob Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 Chopin Piano Competition. Liu’s quiet confidence was beguiling, as he expertly transcended Rachmaninoff’s thicket of notes, calmly and gently sending them into the air with deceptive ease. He did not push, or add commentary; he invited the listener to lean in. He followed the Rhapsody with Liszt’s La Campanella, tossing it off with enviable facility, and more humility than showmanship.

*Bruce Liu debuts with the New York Philharmonic. Photo by Chris Lee.*

Rouvali’s circular mannerisms may have resulted in an occasional tense entrance from the brass, but he proved an adept and supportive accompanist, becoming an extension of the Steinway. He beautifully captured the mysterious flirtation of the twelfth variation, Tempo di Minuetto. Liu dispatched the whimsical fifteenth variation, Piú vivo Scherzando, with the dexterity of Art Tatum. The Brahmsian seventeenth was a suspenseful build to the iconic Andante cantabile “big tune.”

Liu’s statement was an intimate confession. The grand string version was velvety and luxurious, Rouvali handling the orchestra like a chauffeur behind the wheel of a plush Cadillac. Liu and Rouvali stepped on the gas; the tension ratcheted, and the solo piano part builded in a dizzying series of explosions to the announcement of the Dies Irae motif, then a winking final button, thrown away.

All four movements of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70 contained vivid drama. Rouvali drew from the Philharmonic musicians sharp dynamic contrasts, crisp rhythm, and carefully calibrated shapes of phrases. The conductor ’s painterly sense of light and dark shadings, and attention to balance allowed soloists and sections to bubble to the top and be heard, listening and matching each other in communicative dialogue and impressive virtuosity.