Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4

A Limited Interpretation of Beethoven

I've always felt that Lang Lang should restrict himself to Mozart and early Beethoven, and this recording of the Beethoven concertos convinces me further of this. His recording of the first concerto is fine; he gives a real sense of the classical period through a bold approach. However, when this same approach is applied to the fourth concerto, it comes across as raw and bland. Lang Lang has no depth of mood; he shifts between the only three colors he knows without bothering to connect passages together. This approach simply does not pass when performing a piece where the first movement alone is twenty minutes long. With such a piece, it is crucial to keep the "big picture" intact. Lang Lang knows how to make the piano sound strong, sensitive, or excited, but doesn't know anything between. This is not often a limitation with Mozart's piano works, which have the same sudden, constant mood-swings that characterize Mozart's personality, hence why I say Lang Lang should stick to the classical period.
What depth Lang Lang lacks aurally he tries to make up for with grandiose swaying and gestures in front of audiences, but with a recording there is nothing to cover up his disconnected, shallow sound. As a previous reviewer noted, the orchestra is quite subpar, though it doesn't detract too often from the piano, which is quite clear. Lang Lang shows off his technique through excellent articulation and velocity when necessary. However, his musicality is substantively lacking, and the essence of the music is left behind.
November 11, 2008

My Lang Lang weekend, Pt. 2- No disappointment here!

I received this disc of Beethoven piano concertos by Lang Lang on the same day as his Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2; Paganini Rhapsody, and listened to both for the first time this weekend. Like many, I was disappointed by the Rachmaninov Piano Ct. No. 2 with Valery Gergiev, but this compact disc, featuring Ludwig Von Beethoven's Piano Cts. Nos. 1 & 4, with the young Chinese star and Christoph Eschenbach directing the Orchestre de Paris, is a pleasing success that vividly shows that abundant potential that Lang Lang possess.
Where he was lackluster & showed little decisiveness in the Rach. #2, he plays with verve & focus on this Beethoven cd. His playing is more sharp & expressive here than on the Rachmaninov concerto; Lang Lang really seems to be enjoying himself with Beethoven. Much credit goes to Eschenbach, who proves a much better collaborator for the young virtuoso than Gergiev. Being a brilliant pianist himself, Maestro Eschenbach seems much better attuned to the sensibilities of his superstar in the making.
Technically speaking, Lang Lang is excellent on this Beethoven release, which should go a long way to cementing a stellar reputation that up to this point, perhaps, he has not quite deserved. With further seasoning & more experience under his belt, Lang Lang should easily find acceptance as one of the finest pianists of his time. With more performances like this disc of Beethoven's first & fourth piano concertos, I'm sure he will.
Perhaps five stars is just a shade indulgent given the pianist's youth & inexperience, but I really did enjoy this one and given a fair & open-minded airing, I'm sure other listeners will also.
Highly recommended, with no reservations! There are no disappointments here! February 24, 2008

The image is bigger than the music.

Yes, I feel that the Lang Lang image has overtaken the musicality. But I must give the young man some credit here; he has taken on a couple of very complex cadenzas, and he does play the pieces quite well. Beethoven certainly does run the gamut of emotions, and the joy is definitely missing in these performances. Lang Lang turns the listener's attention to himself with exaggerated rubatos and dynamics, but the technique is clean and smooth.
When I started my classical music label, I learned to listen to recordings on many levels and I must give credit to his recording team at Emil Berliner Studios. The production is flawless; the balance between orchestra and piano is perfect, the image is exactly as you would hear in the concert hall.
Most people don't need the narcissistic 16-page booklet, so downloading is recommended. February 22, 2008

A different interpretation of Beethoven

Music has many faces and many possible interpretations. I was curious to hear Lang Lang, a young, extremely talented piano virtuoso, in his performance of Beethoven. This recording of Lang Lang is a contribution of a young person with a great talent to the world of music.
I have found, firstly, that I did not like the orchestra. It was unimaginative, heavy and too loud at times. The booming sound was unpleasant to ears. Often, the sound was not well defined and was blurry. The orchestra was, to say the least, not memorable.
When Mr. Lang joined in, it became immediately obvious that he is a great virtuoso. I did like his performance, it was exciting and it got me excited. Mr. Lang played with great ease and produced many sparks and fireworks with great clarity. However, in my books, he was not true to Beethoven. The fidelity to Beethoven, I feel, is important. I have other recordings of Beethoven, notably by Garrick Ohlsson and Dubravka Tomsic, which are true to Beethoven, and which are my gold standards.
I give this record the grade of 3 for the orchestra (I am being generous here), and 4 for Lang Lang (where the points were subtracted for the interpretation, which I did not like).
October 13, 2007

Only an opinion, but a dissenting one

Here, I diverge from most of the reviewers. Lang Lang's performance strikes me as marvelously balanced and effective. The Concerto No. 1 is performed here with youthful elan and high spirits in the outer movements: clean articulation and a nice bounce. The first movement cadenza is unfamiliar to me. It is not the rather perfunctory cadenza Beethoven wrote out for his pupil Archduke Rudolf (which I'm not sure Beethoven used when he himself performed the concerto; he probably improvised on the spot). The one in this recording is long. I don't know the cadenza literature; perhaps it's by Lang Lang or Eschenbach. Definitely a novelty for me; not bad. The slow movement has sentiment, yet it is cool in demeanor; we are still in a Mozartean world. The Fourth Concerto is played here with brilliance and virtuosity; Beethoven is assured and assertive and this concerto was meant as a showcase piece. Lang Lang articulates the runs and other passage work cleanly and precisely. The slow movement is ravishing in his performance: such delicacy and restraint!

The "but" part of this review rests with the "supporting cast." Let's face it, the Orchestre de Paris is not a first tier outfit. The woodwinds are particularly weak, the first clarinet is rather insensitive in phrasing and not attractive in tone. And Eschenbach is not the man to whip this ensemble into shape (perhaps a few kicked over music stands and score-throwing tantrums a la Toscanini would have helped). The ensemble work of the strings borders on the sloppy; the tuttis are leaden. I understand Eschenbach is a lovely person; Lang Lang seems devoted to him, as is Renee Fleming (the orchestral work on her Strauss disc with Eschenbach is terrible!) I just feel he is not a top-tier conductor. If the recording location had been a bit livelier, there might have been more allure to the sound, but the "room" is dead, dead, dead. Every careless entry is heard all too clearly. It's almost as bad as the dreaded Studio 8-H that Toscanini had to record in with the RCA Symphony. Lang Lang has not had good luck with his orchestral accompanists. His Tchaikovsky First with Barenboim and the Chicago was wonderful. But the Rachmaninov with Gergiev. . . not first rate. (Gergiev can be superb, but I think he cannot say "no" when asked to perform. I think if the East Transylvanian Fireman's Association Symphony Orchestra asked him to record some symphonies of Glazanov, he'd try to fit it into his crowded schedule.) G. is on auto-pilot there. Lang Lang's managers should choose his recording colleagues with great care.

So, to sort through all the above: Lang Lang 5 stars; the rest 1 star = 3 stars. August 14, 2007

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