Two was indeed pleasant company for the last program of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. A talented piano duo performed the kind of music not often heard on stage at Merrill Auditorium.

The longtime duo of Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg battled it out on a pair of grand pianos for two works that spanned centuries, but nonetheless gave quite a large Sunday afternoon crowd the opportunity to enjoying both contrapuntal and complementary keyboard collaborations.

Supported by a small coterie of PSO players under the direction of Eckart Preu, Silver and Garburg began with a version of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Concerto No. 2 in C major for two pianos and string orchestra”. As so often with Bach, the piece sometimes felt like an elegant but playful race around exuberant, in this case shared, themes.

From a vantage point to the left of the stage, it was possible to see Silver’s fingers flying as she bent over the difficult tempos of the work. Sometimes raising her left arm as if she was going to use her elbow to play, the young pianist was entertaining in her intensity. In the midst of his own swirling playing, Garburg watched as Silver made the music shimmer.

A brief break allowed other musicians to step out of the wings for the second piece on the program, Francis Poulenc’s “Concerto in D minor for two pianos and orchestra”.

This 20th century work roams deliciously on the modern musical map both stylistically and in terms of dynamics and mood. Compiling something for everyone tested the abilities of the Silver-Garburg duo, as well as the PSOs, to track and arrive on time at the right destinations.

In this piece, Poulenc might seem deeply invested in “serious” neo-classical or impressionist music at one point and evoke an almost Gershwin-like populism the next. In a way, the piece felt like an overture or a suite, but there were breathtaking passages, well executed by the duo and the orchestra.

The piano duo bowed out to a standing ovation. Both received bouquets of flowers, Garburg graciously presented hers to the first violinist, Amy Sims.

The intermission produced a flurry of activity on stage as pianos were removed and chairs added, the latter having to be quickly filled by the many additional musicians needed for the major work that was to follow.

Béla Bartok also wrote music for two pianos. But the culmination of this program was his formidable “Concerto for Orchestra”, composed towards the end of his life and premiered in Boston.

As Preu explained in brief remarks after his return to the stage, the piece moves from darkness to light in a way not often found in works of the modern idiom, although in the case of Bartok, an idiom informed by the composer’s early extensive research into Eastern European folk music. .

The PSO sometimes thundered but also offered sensible touches in some of the work’s most thoughtful passages. Pairs of soloists (perhaps related to the two-instrument theme of the previous program) shone brightly, in particular the trumpets stood out. The high strings raised the emotional stakes. A brass chorale at one point in the five-movement piece was a sweet delight to hear. Additionally, the presence of two harps sometimes added an otherworldly aura to a room that at times transfigured with an inviting warmth.

A particularly lively Preu confirmed his intention to incorporate all elements of the work into this highly engaging rendition of a piece that manages to be both penetrating and popular.

Steve Feeney is a freelance writer living in Portland.

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