South Florida Classical Review

American music of the 20th century is a tougher sell for audiences than the works of Tchaikovsky, Dvořák and other composers whose output helps symphony orchestras keep the lights on.

But it can be hard to fathom why, considering the two composers whose pieces were performed Sunday by the Palm Beach Symphony at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Paul Creston’s atmospheric Invocation and Dance and Howard Hanson’s dramatic, lyrical and ambitious Symphony No. 2 are as accessible as most popular works of the 19th century

The two men were contemporaries, composing until their deaths in the 1980s. Both had reputations as Romantics at a time when “advanced” composers were producing astringent, cerebral works that baffled audiences.

With its evocative orchestration and sense of drama, the Creston work resembled the brilliant concert pieces of Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky. Under conductor Gerard Schwarz, a champion of American music who had studied with Creston, the orchestra gave a tight, precise performance, bringing out the score’s tension, mystery and stark, lonely lyricism.

The work opened ominously, with spidery wind solos rising above hushed strings, and from there the sense of coiled tension rarely abated. Strings, contrary to their usual status, play a largely supporting role, as clarinet, oboe, flute and trumpet rose and meandered through improvisatory solos. At points, the tension was discharged in rhythmically marked passages that contrasted with the almost free-form wind solos.

Howard Hanson spent most of his career in snowy western New York State as director of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. His Symphony No. 2, known as the “Romantic,” was composed in 1930 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and with its rugged drama, melodic richness and powerful structure, it could easily win over a larger audience.

Under Schwarz’s direction, the orchestra played with a rich, burnished sound, with a particularly lush texture to the strings, an essential element for bringing off this sweeping, soaring work.

The quiet opening came off as full of understated power, its three-note motif building through a long crescendo. The orchestra played the main theme, which runs through the symphony, in a restrained manner, so it sounded particularly powerful when it surged back over a pounding timpani.

There were moments of crabbed tension that suddenly discharge into broad, expansive melodies. In the Andante, winds played the opening with a rich sound, warmth and delicate phrasing. The last movement was marred by some ragged brass playing at the opening and at points later in the movement.

But overall, this was a majestic account of a terrific symphony that is played far too infrequently. Schwarz and the orchestra deserve credit for giving South Florida listeners the rare chance to hear a live performance.

After intermission, the acclaimed American pianist Garrick Ohlsson took the stage to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Ohlsson is known for his fine technique and huge hands, which allow him to tackle passages that challenge other pianists. He could make the piano thunder in passages such as the grandiose openings of the first and third movements. He made it sparkle in effortless performances of rapid passages that decorate melodies in the orchestra.

But what was most striking about his performance was the sensitivity and style he brought to the work’s softer passages, to its melodies and to the elaborate ornamentations that accompany themes in the orchestra. In the first movement, he brought a sense of vulnerability, without ever losing the rhythmic pulse, to quiet melodic passages that expressed the work’s yearning romanticism.

In the last movement, he brought style and simmering heat to the famous second theme. And sensitive as he may have been to the work’s inward moments, he could draw a huge tone from the piano. Orchestra and soloists combined for a stirring account of the fortissimo concluding anthem, which like its counterpart at the end of the Piano Concerto No. 3, is a touchstone for admirers of Rachmaninoff’s music.

Standing ovations come pretty cheap these days, but this one was deserved. Ohlsson responded with two encores, a sensitive, probing performance of Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9, no. 2, and a deft, witty account of Chopin’s Minute Waltz.

The Palm Beach Symphony’s next concert will take place 7 p.m. April 8 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. The program includes William Grant Still’s ‍Threnody: In Memory of Jean Sibelius, Debussy’s La Mer, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 and Beethoven’s ‍Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Anne-Marie McDermott. palmbeachsymphony.org