By ANNE MIDGETTE

 

One could say the Riverside Symphony's program at Alice Tully Hall on June 10 was subversive in its newness. That is, nothing on it was all that new, but it wasn't all that familiar, either. The orchestra has devoted itself to less-explored corners of the repertory in its two-plus decades of existence, and this concert was no exception.

 

The showpiece was Prokofiev's fourth piano concerto, for one hand, written for the evidently irascible pianist Paul Wittgenstein - irascible at the very least because of his rejection of the concerto once he had commissioned it. Wittgenstein, the older brother of the philosopher, lost an arm in World War I, which perhaps contributed to a certain crankiness when he resumed his concerts; in any event, while the concerto Ravel wrote for him is performed rather often, Prokofiev's fourth was not even played during the composer's lifetime.

 

It's heard far too rarely, judging by the intense, involved performance Frederic Chiu gave it. Removing one hand from the performance draws all the more attention to the technical feats being performed with the other. Mr. Chiu sat almost conversationally, his body cupped around his active left hand, while his right hand occasionally strained to pound a helpful beat or two upon his thigh.