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I rented the DVD of Lang Lang at Carnegie Hall and started to watch it tonight. This is my review.

As he played the first piece, I was shocked by his extraordinary control of dynamics. And he seemed to play with machine-like precision. Really, really impressive. I started to think maybe there was something to him, after all.

After a while, I noticed there was something missing. I couldn't put my finger on it, because in some ways, his playing was amazing. I was sure of one thing: I was tired of his Buck Owens faces. He's a homely little fart, and the idiotic mugging got old fast.

I decided to compare him to a couple of true masters. I listened to his "Traumerei," and then I put on Horowitz's version, from 1968. It was very clearly superior. As I listened, I realized two things. First, Horowitz played with passion. It was impossible to listen to the piece and not get emotionally involved. Second, he brought out more than one voice. His left hand played like a separate pianist; an accompanist who played independently, yet with exquisite taste.

Lang Lang brought out one voice. The right-hand melody. And he played with no emotion at all, even while he was grimacing like Keith Jarrett with dysentery. And his left hand was useless. It seemed to sort of brush against the keys without making much sound.

Then I listened to the Chopin nocturne (D flat) and compared it to Arthur Rubinstein. Here, Lang Lang came off even worse. He didn't understand the melody at all. Rubinstein brought out all the "hooks" and played them exquisitely, in a way that tugged at the heart. Lang Lang didn't even perceive that they existed.

The man has no depth, no emotion, and no left hand. He might as well sit on it while he plays. Maybe the energy he needs to manipulate his left hand is going to his head, so he can make monkey faces while he plays.

The mugging is clearly intended to convey the impression that he is lost in emotion, but it's a transparent act. He has no emotion. If he did, it would come out in the music, and it does not.

I'll bet there are dozens of pianists on this board who are more pleasing to listen to than Lang Lang. Music isn't a matter of playing all the notes correctly; it's a matter of having good taste and knowing what sounds good.

I can't believe industry bigwigs fall for this guy. If he's "the future of classical music," we are doomed. I don't care how fast or how cleanly he plays. This guy is a zero.

Congratulations.

thanks for your reveiw. I dont care much for his faces either

when i went to see him perform tchaikovsky's piano concerto n#1, i was frankly too far away to see his facial expressions.. but what i did notice was a really strange waving of his hands when not playing.

during the segments when only the orchestra played, he would rest with his hands on his knees.. and as the piano part approach, he would always move his hands up, then down and wave them vertically as if he was getting ready to caress the piano.

he really tried to put on a show with his non-playing hands and how he moved them. it got to be fairly annoying.

TheloniousPunk:

Subjective as your review is - and what good review shouldn't be subjective? - it is one of the first extended comments I have read on this forum concerning Lang Lang that really has some substance to it and some thought behind it. Your opinions are backed up with specifics, and that is what I have been regretfully unable to find in most of the other posts here on Lang Lang.

Thank you!

Regards,

This was the first thing I noticed when I heard him play the Chopin E minor concerto last year. His feathery pianissimo is particularly amazing. But when he would use it, phrase after phrase, as a kind of tapering device the magic wore off - it just became a mannerism he used whether it made any musical sense or not. The other amazing thing about him is how easy makes the physical business of playing the piano look. (This is not necessarily a good thing in itself of course - I remember Konstantin Lifschitz playing the Beethoven C min concerto apparently paying no attention whatsoever to what he was doing).

I couldn't care less what someone does physically at the keyboard unless it's noisy or distracts other players. And Lang Lang certainly exudes a sense of joy when he plays the piano. I just wish he played it a bit more musically. Not a bar of the Chopin slow movement was allowed to speak for itself. Coincidentally, he played Traumerei as an encore. It was so slow and the phrasing so unnatural it was more like Comarei.

Oh well, there are plenty of other good pianists to enjoy.

I've yet to see LL play live, but he's popping over to Singapore in May, so I'll have to wait 'til then... I'm quite looking forward to it..

As an addendum to the physicalities - I listened to a chamber concert a few years ago, with Ollie Mustonen on the piano. His wafty hands irritated me to the point of distraction, as each piano entry was preceded by a flourish of the wrist. He was also lifting his hands above head level at the END of each phrase.
I had to close my eyes...

Audience chatter at the end put me in the majority..

He's a talent - and he helps to bring people to classical music - which is good...that he may never develop that talent to what it might have been is sad.

K

LL certainly does have talent. And I agree, if it opens up classical music to the masses, then it's not a bad thing...

I sense that some of the angst shown towards LL is jealousy and frustration...

However, I can see why that should be. I have a very good friend in NYC who is a very very good pianist/musician, and the amount of nonsense he has to tolerate to further his career is mind-boggling...
I think it must be very difficult for the likes of Brendan and Koji, (who have an amazing affinity with their calling), to have to tolerate the politics of the classical world, whilst others have it handed to them on a pair of silver chopsticks.

When I told my music teacher at school that I was interested in a career in classical music, (guitar), she warned me off, saying it was very very cut-throat. I am now glad that I took her advice, as I would not be able to tolerate the hurdles which Brendan, Koji, my NYC friend, et. al., have had to tolerate and surmount...

Must have been a different DVD than the one I saw! Have noticed the LL stompings here and find them a little bizarre. His left hand technique was superb...check out the Liszt. His right hand is awesome, you did notice the double thirds in the Liszt, right?

Interpretatively, yes not the most inspiring pianist I've ever heard, but certainly an artist of international caliber...I'd compare him with Van Cliburn...sudden success, due to a confluence of events, probably not fully deserved from an artistic point of view...he'll make recordings for a few years, then fade away.

Have you ever listened to one of his recordings?

Van Cliburn's recording of the Tchaikovsky 1 and Rachmaninov 2 is outstanding.


Sure he was a sudden success, due to a confluence of events... but his success was well deserved.

Cliburn had at least one thing (and I suspect many more) that Lang Lang lacks--TONE!

...and control!

I think the issue with Lang Lang is whether he will primarily grow as a pianist or a showman. He is young. If he grows as a pianist, maybe he will develop some of the attributes of many of the greats.

I don't think a man in his twenties, who has already spent hours practicing every day for about two decades, stands a realistic chance of suddenly developing depth or good musical taste. If it were going to happen, it would have happened when he was a child.

As for the grotesque faces, he could always play with a bag on his head.

HAHA.
Wonderful quote.

Quite humorous for me to read the utter envy that exudes all of your posts about Lang Lang. Why don't you just let him live, and live your own lives and stop being so frustrated that he's so much more famous and better than you? If you worked as hard as he did you might stand a chance at his success too, nuff said.

from what you've guys have said, you might as well say he downright sucks. i've never heard him play, and i don't really know of or care for classical pianists, except for the ones in the pop world, like Vannessa Carlton and Alicia Keys, who REALLY have talent concerining their piano skills and technique.
but then again Lang-Lang is, i don't know, only 19, [my age] and has a lot growing up and maturing to do concerning his piano skills, according to you guys. so i'ma probably cut him some slack. i also heard that he has a bit of an attitude, too. maybe his piano skills suck either b/c he just wants to do his own thing, or he hasn't recieved proper corstructive critisism. that probably explains why his piano skills and technique is poor.
or maybe he thinks that he is all that b/c he now holds the position as a he bears the occupation as a classical pianist. well that won't amount to anyhthing if you suck.

I've only heard Lang once, playing Tchaikovsky's 1st at the PROMS a couple of years ago.

As far as I can remember, it was okay-ish - rather workaday, certainly. I can't say that he sent me rushing to Tower Records.

I think whether or not Lang is indeed a "homely little fart" or has a physiognomy which recalls "Keith Jarrett with dysentery" - a spectacle I'm pleased to report I've not witnessed - is pretty irrelevant, but I would agree that his success and popularity do seem disproportionate to his ability.


Absolutely.


David