Old Vienna never cares much for premières of new music. The new composition on the Vienna Symphony concert program one night last week was included not as a première, but as a novelty. It was Piano Concerto No. 1 by Los Angeles' young (32) Benjamin Lees, neatly played by Alexander Jenner and the Konzerthaus audience liked it better than anything else on the program. It sounded well-padded and fluent, comfortably conservative in its rhythmic patterns. It was often reminiscent of Prokofiev, had a satisfying amount of orchestral razzle-dazzle and was, all in all, a pretty piece. The audience indicated that it...
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