The seventh year under the stewardship of Robert Moody with the Portland Symphony Orchestra continued on Oct. 26. After the national anthem, the concert began with a work called “Fanfare Ritmico” by Jennifer Higdon. I really don’t like to write nasty things, but my feeling about this work is that if you really don’t care about what the music sounds like, you too can be a composer.

There were almost constant changes of meter, making the work challenging to conductor and instrumentalists alike. The texture alternated between thin and thick, soft and very noisy. While it did not last for long, it seemed to me that it lasted longer than it did ”“ or needed to for that matter.

The featured work on the program, the piano concerto by Edvard Grieg, was another matter entirely.

The soloist was one Conrad Tao, a 20-year-old pianist, who gave an electrifying account of the work. Normally, I would question why a work that is frequently played mostly at “Pops” concerts occupied front and center at a “classical” concert. With performances such as this one, however, I was grateful to hear the music as it is only rarely performed this well. The only fault I could find is with the management. The ”“ expensive ”“ piano bench repaired really ought to be repaired. Tao tried to adjust it many times, but it would not budge. Like most musicians, concert pianists are fussy about the height of the bench. It must be just so.

I recall with amusement the time when legendary pianist spent a good five minutes adjusting the bench to his satisfaction at a concert with the Boston Symphony. As for Tao, his technique is awesome, especially for a pianist that young. His “touch” is phenomenal. His soft passages could be described as feathery or having the texture of spider webs.

His passage work, especially noticed in descending 3rds, was impeccable. More than that, he played ever musically molding phrases expressively. If works justifiably known as “war horses” are going to be performed, I hope they can be performed as well as Tao’s rendition. I suspect that he wanted to show that he was equally at home with more demanding fare than the Grieg. So as an encore, he plowed through the last movement of Prokofiev’s 7th piano sonata. He is still a student at Julliard. Golly, I don’t know what there is left for him to learn with the possible exception of formal concert attire. It should also be said that Moody provided a sympathetic and sensitive accompaniment to go with Tao’s pianistic fireworks.

The solo horn playing of Nicholas Orovich in the concerto as well as in the symphony that followed needs to be applauded. Along with his fellow solo winds, they will have an opportunity to shine at the concert of Nov. 11. Lovers of the music of Dmitri Shostakovich ”“ including myself ”“ are grateful to him for his superb reading of his 11th symphony, a work that is rarely performed.

Whether or not he was a Communist supporter of Stalin, is a question neither I nor others can really answer. In order to survive and create, he had to get along in order to go along. He did leave some things that many regard as clues, but these are merely suppositions. His music shows the influence of Mahler, which I like to think is a good thing. His melodic lines tend to be instrumentally rather than vocally conceived. The techniques in this symphony are similar to those found in earlier symphonies.

Since Moody has shown understanding and sympathy in Mahler’s works, it is gratifying that he showed similar traits in conducting Shostakovich’s music. I look forward to hearing him and the orchestra play the other symphonies. As it was, the performance of this work was such that I wanted to hear more. The audience agreed. The drama, pathos and excitement were all there. The concert will be broadcast on MPBN on Nov. 12 at 8 p.m.

— Dr. Gold is a composer/conductor and an arts reviewer for the Journal Tribune.

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