Lang Lang, piano; Daniel Barenboim, Chicago Symphony Orchestra. DG
B0000666-02.
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An obvious word of
caution: Any musical artist’s interpretation of a work is just that, an
interpretation. Likewise, any music critic’s review of a performance is an
opinion, a reaction to that interpretation. One cannot say either the artist’s
interpretation or the critic’s reaction to it are right or wrong, correct or
incorrect, in any absolute sense. One can make the case that there are virtues
to every performance and leeway for reaction to every performance. If there
were absolute right and wrong performances or reactions to them, we would no
longer have interpretations or opinions about them; we would have truths. I
mention all this because people sometimes get annoyed when a reviewer doesn’t
see a performance the same way they do. And this is especially the case when
the performer instills such emotions in listeners as Lang Lang does. His
followers cry bloody murder when a critic disparages anything he does; his
detractors cry foul when a reviewer says anything nice about him. Understand,
it’s in the nature of criticism to have people agree or disagree it. It’s what
opinions are all about.
Anyway, the disc
under review was Chinese pianist Lang Lang’s debut recording for DG in 2003,
and a daunting enterprise it was for a man just twenty-one years old. There is
surely no doubting Lang’s technical keyboard expertise, but the results of the
performances here are something of a mixed bag, though most of it is good.
The pianist and his
accompaniment, Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony, take a bold, fast,
sweeping, highly charged view of Romanticism’s most famous concerto. They get
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in
B-flat minor off to its usual bang-up start from the opening chords, but
then it never seems to let up through the entire first and third movements.
Only in the first section of the second movement does Lang show any great
degree of subtlety or repose. Otherwise, he appears to know only one speed: to
charge full ahead with broad but highly controlled variations of tempo.
Nonetheless, while
it’s all rather in high gear, Lang makes it work through the sheer brilliance
of his virtuosity, and he gives us an intensely exciting presentation, to be
sure. Still, compared to the maturity of some of his rivals--for instance,
Cliburn (RCA), Giles (RCA), Argerich (DG or Philips), or Wild (Chesky), to name
a few--he seems more than a little youthfully impetuous. Not that that is a bad
thing, of course, and there is no question the second movement is hauntingly
serene. But considering that Cliburn was about Lang’s age when he made his own
famous recording, it cannot be entirely attributable to age alone.
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Coupled with the
Tchaikovsky is the lesser-known Mendelssohn
First
Piano Concerto, which I suppose DG intended as a more-relaxed and
lightweight contrast to the fiery Tchaikovsky. However, the way Lang handles
it, the Mendelssohn piece comes off almost as highly charged as the Russian’s.
There is not as much singing rhythm or lyrical grace in the Mendelssohn as I
would have liked, although there is much skillful brilliance and whizbang
accomplishment.
Just as Lang’s playing
will wow the crowds, so will DG’s sound turn some heads. Recorded in Chicago in
2003, it’s big and bold and reasonably clear from the opening bell, just like
the performances. Still, like Lang’s interpretations, one notices almost
immediately that something is just a little off. The dynamics are strong and
impact is powerful, yet the piano overshadows everything else. Indeed, the
piano appears to be twenty feet long and ten feet high, bigger than the
orchestra behind it, while the orchestra itself produces a sound that seems
slightly soft and rounded and a bit congested in the loudest passages. It sort
of spoils the effect of Tchaikovsky’s biggest and most-popular melodies by
almost drowning them out.
I don’t mean to seem
harsh, and given Lang’s extraordinary talents I’m sure he will continue to be a
dominant force in the musical world for rest of our lifetimes. However, insofar
as the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto
goes, the recordings I mentioned earlier seem to me more reasonable first
choices, unless you’re a die-hard Lang Lang fan or you simply have deep enough
pockets to buy every new and different version of basic repertoire items that
come along. Certainly, for a lot of collectors the latter argument is valid, in
which case Lang Lang’s view of Tchaikovsky may be of extreme interest. Besides,
who knows, you may find it a treasure.
JJP
To listen to a few brief excerpts from this album, click
here:
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