Brahms' 2nd to open symphony season

Pianist Louis Lortie enjoys coming to Salt Lake City, and not only for the chance to play with the Utah Symphony.

"I love nature and I love the mountains around your city," he said in a phone interview from his home outside Montréal.

"I am a big skier, and your mountains are one of the best places to ski because of the quality of the snow."

Unfortunately for Lortie, he won't be able to indulge his passion when he comes to Salt Lake City to open the Utah Symphony's new season on Friday and Saturday.

But on the other hand, he'll be playing one of the 19th century's most monumental piano concertos: Johanes Brahms' Concerto No. 2 in B flat major.

"I don't like to say that I have favorites in my repertoire, but the Second might be it. It is certainly one of the top pieces I play," Lortie said.

The concerto is written on a grand scale, and that appeals to the 51-year-old pianist. "Its symphonic aspect elevates you." The opening is striking, Lortie said. "Brahms took an idea and like (Beethoven's) 'Emperor' Concerto, it propels you to another world. It's breathtaking."

The nearly hourlong work demands a great deal from the soloist. "You have to pace yourself," Lortie said. "You have to approach it in a certain way, otherwise there can be problems."

As there were when he played the Second in China a few years ago.

"(The Chinese) don't have much experience with Brahms. The conductor took it at a brisk tempo and it was a bit disturbing. You can be terrorized by the concerto because it is so demanding."

The B flat concerto has been in Lortie's repertoire for quite some time, but he hasn't played it very frequently. "You can't program it too often, because it is such a huge work."

The 2010-11 season will be special because not only will Lortie play the concerto more than once, he will also have the opportunity of playing it with Kurt Masur and the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, Germany.

"I've played with Masur before but never at the Gewandhaus," Lortie said. The concert, which will take place in January, will be even more memorable for Lortie since the aging Masur only conducts his former orchestra once a year.

"I am absolutely thrilled to do this concert with him."