Conducted by Edwin Outwater, with soloist Sara Davis Buechner, the Grant Park Orchestra performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The evening also offered a pleasantly modern program:
Jimmy López Loud
Lou Harrison Symphony No. 2 (“Elegiac”)
Amy Woodforde-Finden Kashmiri Song
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
The orchestra has a lovely sound and plays as a tight, well-coordinated ensemble. The pieces are a nice surprise — very well-curated. Even so, I wasn’t especially looking forward to the Tchaikovsky — this is a festival, and a free concert at that (bravo!) — since the concerto’s solemnity asks for a certain seriousness rather than a cheerful summer spirit. But the first three pieces eased the audience nicely into the mood.
Buechner’s playing is wonderfully expressive, and her touch in the soft passages is delicate and exquisite. She took her time through several of the moderato sections, and I rather loved the steady, unhurried pace. She occasionally swings her hands dramatically off the keyboard, and since bringing them back takes a moment, her big leaps weren’t always precise. But that aside, the interpretation was excellent — the Tchaikovsky came across as classy and just right.