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Many of us have spilled much electronic ink criticizing the way-over-the-top performance antics of Lang Lang; I've certainly had my innings with him here. But I came across something tonight that has me scratching my head. ArkivMusic sent me an email publcizing LL's first Sony Classical release, and it includes a trailer that shows LL performing the pieces on the CD at Vienna's Musikverein. Much to my surprise, the amount of eye-rolling, head-banging and home-run-swinging is sharply reduced from what we've come to expect from him. And when you get rid of the visual distractions, it's easier to hear his gifts as a musician. I found his choice of repertoire interesting (including his first two recordings of Beethoven sonatas), and his always powerful technique seemed to be complemented by honest-to-goodness musicianship (though the interview voice-overs recorded on top of some of the music made it hard to tell).

I don't want to stumble into inadvertent violations of forum rules against shilling for merchants, so I'll let you find the ArkivMusic site on your own. I'd be interested to know what others think of this welcome development. Maybe he reads Pianist Corner too and decided to try a new approach.

Nope, that can't be it. But I wonder what's going on. All theories (plausible or im___) welcome.

I think stores and Pogorelich found out where he sleeps at night, hehe.

Maybe Barenboim threatened to kick his a$$ if he kept screwing around so much. His antics were never the biggest problem I've had with him (though annoying as heck). Should I happen to run across his new work I'll give it a listen (if it's already playing, because I'm for SURE not paying for it).

hahahaha!

here it is.

First impression after 30 seconds...pretty brutal ending to the Heroic polonaise...

Edit: the rest wasn't as bad, just the way he plays the heroic polonaise drives me crazy.

I've learned to stay out of Lang Lang threads. To each his own.

He managed to make a Steinway twang at the ending. No easy feat.

I made sure to listen without watching... I liked the C Major Beethoven and the Prokofiev. Appassionata wasn't too bad, but the Chopin wasn't quite to my taste, hehe.

I then went back and watched again.

I guess I haven't been following Lang Lang lately; I saw that trailer yesterday and thought: "wow, great playing but way over the top as far as being showy".

The Viennese wisely hate things like making faces etc. Maybe he knew!

Still too much ponce for my (reserved) taste. But then I think that of most pianists.

I do like a bit a flair, but Lang's is way too much.

My father used to like the 'sober' look. He admired Rubinstein's pose.

My theory is that he is a human being who is getting old enough to project his concept of himself into the future a little further than he did in the past, and has realized that a slightly more serious presentation might work a little better, heading into the next phase of his career. In spite of all the craziness, I always did think his love for music was real, and I hoped that maybe that love for it would guide him onto firmer ground.

+1!

I recently watched Barenboim giving Lang Lang a masterclass on the Appassionata (thanks BBC). It was pretty clear that Barenboim was focused on the sound, and how the fingers got the sound, not on the accompanying facial expressions.

Lang's rolling eyes are somewhat off-putting, but his overall movements are not wildly extreme. I think his playing deserves 'blind tasting'.

LL avoided most of his mannerisms in the Barenboim master class. I think he didn't want to appear foolish.