# Lang Lang



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Even listening to him without watching him, he is so primp and proper in his approach to pianoism. I adore it and could only wish to play as well as he does.

A hero, for sure.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I'm listening to his Chopin concertos and they are fantastic!


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

I'll have to listen to his Chopin. His temperament and style strike me as likely suited to Chopin, but for God's sake *not* Bach.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

There are a lot of critics who despise him, think he's grossly over-rated, has no taste and is more of a Liberace than serious pianist. I am certainly no expert and I don't follow the piano world, don't know who in in different competitions, don't care. But I did hear Lang Lang live once - with the China Philharmonic of all things. They played the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and he was utterly brilliant. Exciting where needed, deeply moving at times. Flawless playing. I thought he was great - it was at least as good as anything else I'd ever heard, and I've heard that work played by some of the greats.


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## Michael122 (Sep 16, 2021)

Is it possible to lavish more praise upon this pianist than has already been done?
He is nothing less than the best pianist of our time.
This is evidenced by his refinement and delicacy of style, his beautiful, almost speaking, expression which goes to the heart.
He plays with articulation, evenness, and rapidity of both hands.
There appears to be no composer and no piece he cannot do.
You can hear sublime power and character in his left hand. 
His slow movements are simply glorious, evoking mood, character, and texture.
He possesses an arena of artistical perfection with uncommon melodic clarity and communication with his left-hand accompaniments.
It is almost impossible not to be seduced by his intriguing tone, his arching melodies, and brilliant phrasing.
In his childhood he claims to have practiced a minimum of 6 hours daily and sometimes longer and rarely took a day off.
His pains and sacrifices have resulted in giving us extraordinarily well played complete performances by this complete artist.
Mr. Lang may well be not only the best pianist of our time, but, as others have opined, quite possibly, ever.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

There used to be a YouTube of him playing K 491 with Manfred Honeck in Hamburg in 2018. It was impressive. I don’t think the commercial recording with Harnoncourt is quite so successful - but it does at least have his poetic first movement cadenza.

I have a feeling that by the time he’s 50 he’ll be a very interesting musician indeed.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Michael122 said:


> Mr. Lang may well be not only the best pianist of our time, but, as others have opined, quite possibly, ever.


Except when playing Bach. Gawd-awful when playing Bach. Sacharine, sentimental, mawkish... Blech. *

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/04/arts/music/lang-lang-bach-goldberg-variations.html

* Disclaimer: Subjective Opinion.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I hope he does a full cycle of solo piano works of a composer soon. I do really enjoy his Mozart live.


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## Michael122 (Sep 16, 2021)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I hope he does a full cycle of solo piano works of a composer soon. I do really enjoy his Mozart live.


Looking forward to any CD he chooses to put out.


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## AaronSF (Sep 5, 2021)

His Bach is dreadful, his theatrics are shameless, and he plays with the subtlety of an ox. But I'm willing to give him a second chance.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

AaronSF said:


> His Bach is dreadful, his theatrics are shameless, and he plays with the subtlety of an ox. But I'm willing to give him a second chance.


What do you think about 
1:20


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

AaronSF said:


> His Bach is dreadful, his theatrics are shameless, and he plays with the subtlety of an ox. But I'm willing to give him a second chance.


His Goldberg's are wonderful imo!


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Michael122 said:


> Mr. Lang may well be not only the best pianist of our time, but, as others have opined, quite possibly, ever.


Now that's quite an overstatement. First, since we don't have recordings by Liszt, Rubinstein and their like, there is no way to compare. Second, there are better pianists now and certainly better in the past. Lang Lang is excellent, no question. But he's no Martha Argerich, Nelson Friere, Claudio Arrau, Wilhelm Kempf, Rachmaninoff or Horenstein. Stephen Hough is better. Earl Wild was better.


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

AaronSF said:


> His Bach is dreadful, his theatrics are shameless, and he plays with the subtlety of an ox. But I'm willing to give him a second chance.


Yes, I agree. One must be boring to play Bach. :lol:


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

eljr said:


> Yes, I agree. One must be boring to play Bach. :lol:


Gould wasn't boring........


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## Mercedes2 (May 31, 2021)

Lang Lang is more a showman than a pianist in my opinion. That he has technical excellence there is no doubt, however, no virtuosic pianist who cannot encompass the notes of a work has any business performing it. What Lang Lang brings in terms of musical insight and interpretation is not much, if anything at all. He exaggerates pieces with vulgar ornamentations that seemingly obliterate any sense of a musical line and his candenze are often preposterous, attempting to evoke extemporisation whilst clearly being the product of rehearsal. His tempi are also all over the place, serving more to showcase his pianistic capabilities than to faithfully perform the piece according to an interpretation. And his 'emotional' facial expressions annoy me beyond belief yet audiences lap them up (I usually wouldn't comment on a performer's mannerisms but Lang Lang's are so pronounced that they usually distract me when watching his performances). A lot of people love him and that's great but I simply do not see what all the fuss is about.


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## Livly_Station (Jan 8, 2014)

His performance of Scriabin Op. 8 is awesome.

Here's the _pathetique_:


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Captainnumber36 said:


> His Goldberg's are wonderful imo!


Listen to some others pianist, then we talk again.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

eljr said:


> Yes, I agree. One must be boring to play Bach. :lol:


Except this one:



:angel:


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

hammeredklavier said:


>


He turns it into weapons-grade schmaltz.

That camera angle at 1:34, from the end of the concert grand, where he looks like he's two blocks away and around the corner, cracked me up. Christ but that's a huge instrument... and he plays it like a precious little music box.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

The sole difference between this 




and Lang's performance is that Lang makes a bit more weird faces; that's all.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

That's not the only difference. Most notably, Olaffson doesn't turn the phrasing into saltwater taffy...


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I think Lang Lang is just an eccentric fellow and a true genius in his pianoism. Just fantastic!


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I think Lang Lang is just an eccentric fellow and a true genius in his pianoism. Just fantastic!


Which of his two Goldberg Variations do you enjoy the most?


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## Michael122 (Sep 16, 2021)

Mandryka said:


> Which of his two Goldberg Variations do you enjoy the most?


The studio version.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Angela Hewitt performs a wonderful "Goldberg Variations"!


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Michael122 said:


> The studio version.


I haven't heard the live version. I only heard the studio cut and loved it. I'm pushing my ear training to hear the differences in various performers.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Judith said:


> Angela Hewitt performs a wonderful "Goldberg Variations"!


Wisely spoken :angel:


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

I would love to have one tenth of Lang Lang's technical ability, but I'd make vastly different use of it. There is a musician in there somewhere (as others have mentioned, he does a surprisingly good job with Mozart concertos) but he smothers far too much of what he plays in saccharine for my taste.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Animal the Drummer said:


> I would love to have one tenth of Lang Lang's technical ability, but I'd make vastly different use of it. There is a musician in there somewhere (as others have mentioned, he does a surprisingly good job with Mozart concertos) but he smothers far too much of what he plays in saccharine for my taste.


Be sure to listen to his first movement cadenza for k 491


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

People are behaving well on this thread usually LL generates a more visceral response.

I have found that on TC Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma and S. Ozawa garner high negatives, sometimes even hate. Wonder what that's all about.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Mandryka said:


> Be sure to listen to his first movement cadenza for k 491


Just did - thanks for the reminder. It's impressive - faithful to the source and original in its response to it.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

edited and deleted.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

edited and deleted.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Judith said:


> Angela Hewitt performs a wonderful "Goldberg Variations"!


This is great, thanks! Certainly more emotive than Lang Lang's takes. But I think I prefer Lang Lang's "proper" takes. It appeals to my ears more.


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## Michael122 (Sep 16, 2021)

Oldhoosierdude said:


> I have found that on TC Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma and S. Ozawa garner high negatives, sometimes even hate. Wonder what that's all about.


Probably, jealousy.


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