Eric Lu

Eric Lu is an American pianist who appears with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra as soloist in Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1, a large-scale, stormy work that opens with rolling timpani and a searching orchestral introduction before the piano enters. Listeners can expect a performance that balances the concerto's weight with lyrical clarity.

In this performance, Eric Lu takes on Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, a work written when Brahms was still in his twenties and wrestling with the shadow of Beethoven. The first movement is long and turbulent, built from a stormy orchestral opening before the piano enters with quieter, searching material. The second movement is slow and hymn-like, often described as an elegy, while the finale turns to a more rhythmic, dance-like energy. A pianist taking on this concerto needs both the strength to match a full orchestra in its loudest passages and the patience to shape its many quiet, introspective stretches. Listeners drawn to pianists known for lyrical phrasing and unforced tone in this kind of repertoire will find much to listen for here, particularly in how the soloist balances power and restraint across the three movements.