excerpt  :

"Piano Concerto" (392K)

performed by :

Michael Kieran Harvey   - piano

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

conducted by : Yaron Traub

about "Piano Concerto"..........

Piano Concerto is testament to my ongoing association with one of this countries leading exponents of contemporary keyboard music, Michael Kieran Harvey.

Commissioned by Symphony Australia for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra & Michael Kieran Harvey & premiered at the Melbourne concert hall in 2000, the piano concerto underwent a major revision during the period of the Coombs creative Arts Fellowship at A.N.U., undertaken during 2004.

I first met Michael Kieran Harvey in the early 1970’s.
It was the first day back at the N.S.W. Conservatorium High School after the summer holidays. From the room down the hall, where the new year seven kids had just arrived for the start of the school year, I could hear the sounds of some very impressive piano playing. I, along with the rest of the school was drawn towards it like a moth to light. The entrance to the room was packed with students, all jostling to get a peek at the source of the music. I manoeuvred myself into position, where I could see at the piano, a small boy with red hair & freckles playing a Beethoven sonata at lightning speed from memory. He looked to be all of 10 years old, his feet could hardly reach the pedals. He performed like a “demon possessed” & one could not help but wonder at the great things in store for such a young musician, already so accomplished. At the conclusion of this impromptu recital, the students picked up their collective jaws off the floor & erupted into spontaneous rapturous applause. This is my first memory of Michael.
The power & passion of his playing have since become the inspiration for numerous additions to the contemporary piano repertoire by composers around the globe.
This concerto is dedicated to Michael & is the third piece I have written for him.

In a single movement, the work is constructed from a series of episodes that range in character from introspective reflection to aggressive & rhythmically driven motoric music.
The opening solo piano introduction establishes focus on the soloist, which is maintained for the whole work & rather than developing into a musical dialogue between orchestra & piano, the orchestra becomes an extension of the piano colour & textures.