Lang Lang - Chopin The Piano Concertos (6 tracks) +Album Reviews +Used CD available for Swap

Beautiful playing, but the overall feeling is dull and lacki

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/09/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's startling to read in the product description that Lang Lang has sold only 100,000 CDs in the U.S., despite his sold-out concerts and mass popularity. (Perhaps downloads account for the small disc sales.) On the four occasions that I've heard him, I was impressed by his sensitivity in Chopin, not to mention his overall command of touch and technique. At heart I think Lang Lang is a lyrical player, and although he can sound like a fish out of water when it comes to traditional German style, Chopin affords a lot of personal leeway (this latitude has also benefited his compatriot Yundi Li).

The Chopin performances on this CD will not suit anyone looking for extravert fireworks and nervous energy a la Argerich, or for the noble command of Michelangeli and Pollini. Zubin Mehta establishes a conventional framework that isn't high in energy, and the soloist enters Concerto #2 in a ruminative mood. Despite the ease of his passagework, Lang Lang phrases almost with hesitancy. The slow movement of #2 is sung gently, and here his phrasing seems just right in its balance of simplicity and freedom. The waltz finale feels too restrained, however, and lacks brio and spring.

Concerto #1 is deservedly more popular, but I wish Mehta didn't start out sounding so uninvolved. Lang Lang's playing is also too relaxed, lovely as it is. Not every note should sound like a raindrop. The slow movement of #1 is hushed but loses tension as it goes along. Keeping the line taut at such a soft volume is difficult. Heard as pure playing, however, Lang Lang again shows how nuanced his touch is. The finale is marked Rondo vivace, and one wishes for a lot more vivaciousness here. Only in the development section does the soloist find reserves of power and depth that make you pay attention.

In all, this doesn't sound like a young man's Chopin to me, and Mehta's dull accompaniment can't be the only reason."

Soft and Willowy Chopin, with beautiful interludes

Abel | Hong Kong | 12/01/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The teaming up of the illustrious Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta and Lang Lang are nothing less than starry.

In terms of performance, it is quite another matter. The overall effect of these two works as recorded here is bass-heavy, gloomy and dreamy in turns, which has everything to do with accoustics, and without the requisite sense of direction, which has everything to do with the performers themselves.

One wonders what Lang Lang or Zubin Mehta was trying to say in these pieces, except that they are involved in making a jumble of beautiful sounds, and beautiful they indeed are, though the sounds are most of the time uninvolved and distant. Certain passages of cadenzas do shine out, though, but some how they seem more sporadic than bridging.

The No. 2 Concerto in particular suffers from this lack of direction and involvement. All too often it sounded like a classy display of pyro-technique by the soloist and orchestra in turn. At other times, it sounded like an elegant drawing-room piece, without doing any justification to the composer's style and his intentions.

Lang Lang did perform good Chopin before this recording - namely, with Lawrence Foster some years ago in a live performance available on Youtube. And I have been to a live performance of that work by him early this year.

Granted that Chopin is NOT his best choice; even so, he has said that Chopin is one of his favourite composers. One has only to hope that his love for Chopin would somehow bring him back home to the realisation that not all composers are to be played with the same style of interpretation, the same tone colour, and the same approach, however original and genuine that approach is.

What Lang Lang needs is not maturity - it is realisation of musical style. Clearly, he hasn't been taught much of that at conservatory. One could only hope that he picks it up in good time during his performance career.

"

Lovely Chopin

HarryJames | 06/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Chopin Concerto offering by Lang Lang is beuatiful. Both Meta and Lang Lang have a vision of beuaty that is subtle and sauve. The recording needs to be listen to several times, at the first listening the rubatos may seem bit extreme, but if you listen very closely, you will hear a marvelous left hand that is steady as rock, with right hand bel canto filigree that can melt your heart. Lang Lang tone is golden, and Metha keeps the Orchestra from overpowering piano. There are many great recordings of the Chopin Concetos, and Lang Lang's offering is a fine addition."

The show business is more alive than ever!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 10/01/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"After the WW2, the arouse of countless Festivals around the world (when van Cliburn won the famous Tchaikovsky Festival, 1958) allowed to achieve the stardom to numerous artists (like a dream make come true) and, at the same time, to promote new raising promises into the classical tradition, something never seen before. Warsaw, Busoni, Queen of Belgium, Leeds, Van Cliburn among the most important ones.

So, the classical universe began to take part into countless information, specialized magazines, musical conferences, with the only goal to make the listener kept posted himself about the new figures at the great stages.

This need to satisfy the numerous audiences around the world, led to make an impressive search of new talents. The Western world was aware about the new generation of young pianists in the extinct U.R.S.S. So, the names of Kissin, Vladimir Felstman, Grigory Sokolov, Michael Plentev, Andrei Gavrilov, Alexei Sultanov added too to many raising stars from other latitudes (Perahia, Lupu, Schiff, Kocsis, Katsaris, Tirimo, Iliana Vered, Biret, John Lill, Howard, Mijail Rudy, Ivo Pogorelich) filled many musical Halls but just a bunch of them overcame the brevity of the fame.

Lang is the new musical miracle of Julliard. Owner of an enviable technique, his charisma compensates his lack of musical depth. If we think about Yundi Li, for instance, we may realize how Li is much more penetrating,restrained and even quite expressive than Lang. On the other hand, Li has devoted with major emphasis to give recitals rather than Concerts. If you watched Lang in the famous master classes dictated by Barenboim, you will understand Lang is not yet prepared to take up a set of Beethoven's sonatas, for instance.

I would like to think to myself Lang will have to make more recitals and chamber music in order to improve his gifts and skills, and dive into the soul of the score in case he really wishes to transcend the brevity of the glory, because he has become at this moment the most widely known of the classical show business around the world, but this acknowledgement is a double razor weapon, and to make a thoughtful reflection around the trajectory of the great soloists of the recent past.

To play Chopin is far from being easy. It demands a wide rank of livings, nostalgic mood and sumptuous praising. Technically irreproachable but without poetry and personal expression.

"

Lang Lang Dazzles

Chris Nelson | 12/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great recording of fabulous music. Chopin is absolutely one of the best composers of anything piano related. Lang Lang does Chopin justice and then some. If you have part of this album played by someone else money would not be wasted in investing in this artist's interpretation."

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