It’s hard to separate the sounds Lang Lang makes from the persona he and his handlers project. The Bart Simpson hairdo, hideous trousers (something you’d see at a Florida hipster retirement community–“technococker?”), and pseudo-profound photo spread that comes with this release, never mind the worshipful booklet notes, seem to promise a truly “barfalicious” musical experience. The connection to Eschenbach is also a dubious recommendation: let us not forget that he is the biggest (only?) promoter of Tzimon Barto, a pianist who at least at the beginning of his patchy career was promoted on the basis of physical appearance as much as musical ability.
It comes as a huge relief, then, to find Lang Lang taking Beethoven seriously, and working with Eschenbach in crafting a very respectable pair of concerto performances. There are some magical moments here: the close of the First Concerto’s opening-movement development section, both slow movements (particularly that of the Fourth Concerto), and the dreamier moments in the latter work’s finale. Lang Lang plays the pants (trousers?) off of Beethoven’s cadenzas in both works, and interacts affectingly with the various sections of the orchestra. In short, this is intelligent, characterful pianism.
There are, however, a few reservations. At the end of the Fourth Concerto’s first-movement exposition Lang Lang’s phrasing becomes a touch mannered, and the moment of recapitulation could have been handled with more rhythmic point. Eschenbach accompanies well, but the orchestra’s contribution, solo winds especially, comes off as comparatively faceless, particularly in the quick movements. The recording misses little by way of detail but mikes the piano too closely, and this compromises some of the tonal subtlety that characterizes Lang Lang’s work when heard live. So this isn’t perfect, but it’s very good; evidence that underneath the rather appalling exterior Lang Lang is a serious artist after all.
