Remove lighting problem in a picture

I want to create a cover picture using the photograph attached as [login to view URL], but the lighting is rather bad: too dark in the foreground, excessive light in the wall of the tall building in the back. I can use Gimp 2.10.28 (Filters > Edge detect > Edge > Blending options: Color erase) to create a sketch that highlights the color of the jacaranda flowers as shown in the attached file Fig2-GIMPoutput.jpg. I like that result, but the excessive light in the background building remains a problem. I am therefore posting a task to correct the lighting of the original photograph, particularly the contrast between the facades in the foreground and the wall of the tall building in the back. I would like the tall building in the background to be a lot less intrusive, but without compromising the rest of the picture, namely the facades in the foreground and the jacaranda flowers, which must continue to be visible as shown in the Gimp output shown here. Acceptance of the result will be defined by being able to create the artist’s sketch above without the intrusive sight of the building in the background.