George Lloyd’s Third Piano Concerto is his largest effort in the medium, an expansive work in three big parts lasting about three quarters of an hour. The outer movements have a hard, glittering militancy about them that brings to mind Ernest Bloch’s similarly grand Concerto Symphonique, or Prokoviev’s Second Piano Concerto. In its abundance of memorable themes, though, the music could only have come from Lloyd’s pen. I don’t suppose we’ll ever have much of a chance to hear it live: the solo part sounds quite tiring, and today’s budding virtuosos have little incentive to take on challenging new repertoire absent the promise of regular performance–or some other, extra-musical consideration. So thank goodness Katheryn Stott has made the work her own. She has the technique to encompass the most strenuous sections, while also clearly relishing the music’s many opportunities for Lloyd’s patented brand of lyrical, romantic expression.
Of course, Stott also enjoys the singular advantage of working with the composer, an excellent conductor of his own music, and together they present the concerto in the best possible light. There’s a good bit of march-like music in this piece, but happily Stott supplies the necessary energy without unnecessary banging, while Lloyd ensures that his often incisive rhythmic underpinning never turns mechanical or relentlessly fatiguing. The big central slow movement, in particular, shows both soloist and conductor working beautifully together to sustain the music’s interest and tension over its entire span. There are so few really successful modern piano concertos of this size and scope. It’s a genuine, crowd-pleasing, “second half” sort of piece, even though it ends in a rage, so it’s a shame that it doesn’t get more exposure. At least we have recordings, and in this case a very good sounding one too.
