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Why, does he do a bitchin' Bach and Schubert? I might need to go to Youtube and look this up!
I'm not sure if his more recent solo playing is on YouTube. I'm in the minority group that holds that, in addition to his popular concertizing, he's capable of producing extraordinarily nuanced and faithful performances when he wants to. Here's a review I wrote of his recital a year ago:
I could almost tolerate the Prelude, but then the Allemande made me hit the mute button. Ridiculous.
"And if we look at the works of J.S. Bach — a benevolent god to which all musicians should offer a prayer to defend themselves against mediocrity... -Debussy
"It's ok if you disagree with me. I can't force you to be right."
Haha, I agree with the "partial Lang Lang apologist" on this one.
Lang Lang has the ability to be the best damn pianist in the world if you ask me. He just lets his crude showmanship destroy his musicality so often. It's a real shame. Maybe as he ages he will steer further away from that.
Haha, I agree with the "partial Lang Lang apologist" on this one.
What I heard in concert was much *quieter* than what I hear in these recordings, but I stand by my basic opinions. It's not how I would play them, but I find these interpretations riveting.
What I heard in concert was much *quieter* than what I hear in these recordings, but I stand by my basic opinions.
I have never heard LL live, and I have none of his recordings in my library. LL's YT videos are rather distressing, but if a live venue has worked for you, then I respect your opinion.
And yet -with the possible exception of the Yellow River Concerto- is his playing anything more than just fabulous in its technical address, or would it possibly be remembered more in the annals of pianistic history?
I can honestly say I've never felt anyone was significantly under- or overrated. I've often felt that individuals or particular groups underrate or overrate pianists -- usually involving failure to appreciate aspects that legitimately make some pianists admired, or idiosyncratic high regard for pianists that don't enjoy general renown -- but if we're talking about predominant general views, I can't think of anyone at all that I think has been significantly misjudged.
So there!
edit: One exception, sort of -- and OpusMaximum mentioned him:
Originally Posted by Opus_Maximus
Underrated:.... Eric Heidsieck
(spelling corrected)
This is sort of quibbling about vocabulary, but....I wouldn't say he's underrated, just underrecognized. I think most people who are aware of his playing rate him as he deserves -- which is very, very high.
What I heard in concert was much *quieter* than what I hear in these recordings, but I stand by my basic opinions.
I have never heard LL live, and I have none of his recordings in my library. LL's YT videos are rather distressing, but if a live venue has worked for you, then I respect your opinion.
Hehe, distressing is such a perfect word to use to criticize a piano performance. There was a scene from a movie, I think it was the Royal Tannenbaums, where an art critic calls someone's really bad art "workman-like." I always thought that was my number 1 artistic insult of all time, but distressing is a pretty strong contender.
Anyway, I didn't find the Bach one very distressing myself but maybe I'll have to look up one where he's flailing about a bit more.
Over rated, Art Tatum who I find dull, cold, and repetative.
Also anybody playing 6ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths etc in an endless dirge of going nowhere whilst pretending to be a "keyboard God/Monster/Giant/Whatever".
Plus kids up to 30 years old walking into piano shops and playing enormously fast right hand runs up the keyboard (a la Tatum) and nothing else because the left hand is for the joy-stick, play a bit of Chopin and watch them run.
Under rated, Andre Previn, Valentina Lisitsa and some of the great comics who could play a piano and make people laugh too, Victor Borge, Chico Marx, Les Dawson and Reg Varney, to name but four of many.
There are only a few pianists that I wouldn't miss going to hear live in concert, but none of them are under-rated.
However, there are a few (of whom some are now dead or retired) that I've always thought are/were over-rated. They are the boring ones who have no imagination, no individuality and nothing special to say about the music beyond playing what's on the page. There's another category of pianists who don't 'sing', don't have a beautiful cantabile tone when the music demands it, all head and no heart - and those too are, IMO, over-rated.
The older I get (and I'm now very, very ancient ), the more I realize how much the ability to convey one's musical intention to the audience relies on a truly comprehensive and all-embracing keyboard technique. Which is why all the pianists in my 'not-to-be-missed' category above have transcendental techniques that allow them to play anything exactly the way they want. I never have to wonder if a tempo choice or some aspect of rubato is because the pianist is playing for safety.....
Lang Lang is very good in technically difficult pieces with extended virtuosic sections requiring little musicianship or subtlety. In all other works, you're better off listening to someone else.
IMO, the weird thing about Lang Lang is that he's surprisingly boring when playing pieces that are supposed to be exciting. His Appassionata and Prok 7 aren't exciting at all...
Working on: Chopin - Nocturne op. 48 no.1 Debussy - Images Book II
IMO, the weird thing about Lang Lang is that he's surprisingly boring when playing pieces that are supposed to be exciting. His Appassionata and Prok 7 aren't exciting at all...
His Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.1 is the most exciting as well as the most poetic I've heard from anybody - including Serkin, Perahia, Wang.....
)
), the more I realize how much the ability to convey one's musical intention to the audience relies on a truly comprehensive and all-embracing keyboard technique. Which is why all the pianists in my 'not-to-be-missed' category above have transcendental techniques that allow them to play anything exactly the way they want. I never have to wonder if a tempo choice or some aspect of rubato is because the pianist is playing for safety.....