# Listening Wars: Mendelssohn Piano Concerto no. 1: Lang Lang/Pletnev/Perahia



## dantejones (Jan 14, 2015)

A flashy work from Mendelssohn's youth, this piece is, as the English say, 'oft-performed.'
Here are the results of pitting three performances against each other for the quality of playing.

The contestants are Lang Lang (2000 - something), Mikhail Pletnev (1991), and Murray Perahia (1974).
Each recording is easily, perhaps shamefully, available. Each contestant was in their late 20's/early 30's at the time of recording.


Lang Lang: Showmanship. The quick sections are very quick, the quiet sections are very quiet. The accents, dynamics, and most musical features are exaggerated. The best part was the Mvt. 3 coda.

Pletnev: Refined. Everything that Lang Lang can do with quickness, so can Pletnev, but with much more finish and clarity to each note. Hardly, though, any drama. His strongest playing also came in Mvt. 3.

Perahia: Stylish. A good mixture of refined playing and calculated drama. His 1st and 2nd movements had more appeal to me in his rendering than the first two pianists. His 3rd Mvt. was not as strong, and i don't believe he put the same kind of exclamation point on the finale.


If i needed to purchase one, it would be Perahia, closely followed by Pletnev. Lang Lang wasn't a distant third, and luckily he is still in his early thirties.


Feel free to share your recent comparative listening experiences, or the (predictable) 'oh, comparative listening is beneath me.' either way give me a bump.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Adding a few more performances for your consideration:











Too bad no performances by my fav pianists Argerich, Grimaud, or Gould here.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Here is Pletnev's performance for further reference:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The best performance I have ever heard is Rudolf Serkin/Eugene Ormandy. Haven't heard any of these three, however.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Listening wars? Everyone grab their gas-masks and their earplugs to avoid ghastly physical damage!


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

PetrB said:


> Listening wars? Everyone grab their gas-masks and their earplugs to avoid ghastly physical damage!


I keep thinking about musical celebrity death match- MTV style.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Question for the OP: was this comparative listening 'blind'? That's a great way to reduce confirmation bias.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Confirmation bias meaning?


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Confirmation bias: based on what you already know of the performer, you'll make assumptions about how the performance will go, and you fixate on things that confirm your assumptions while ignoring things that refute them. To the extent that you'll "hear" things that you wouldn't hear if you thought it was a different performer about whom you have different assumptions.
Everyone does it, all the time, in all walks of life, but most people seem to pretend it doesn't happen.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Nereffid said:


> Confirmation bias: based on what you already know of the performer, you'll make assumptions about how the performance will go, and you fixate on things that confirm your assumptions while ignoring things that refute them. To the extent that you'll "hear" things that you wouldn't hear if you thought it was a different performer about whom you have different assumptions.
> Everyone does it, all the time, in all walks of life, but most people seem to pretend it doesn't happen.


In case I'm ever challenged to a blind-listen at a party, I'm always sure to memorize when a performer like Pollini starts humming or audience members cough. You can look like a hero when you get the answer right.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

I heard Lang Lang perform this in Chicago. All I remember is getting vertigo watching his head movements.


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## dantejones (Jan 14, 2015)

no, it wasn't, but it was all done online, i don't see how i could have made it blind. I would prefer, though, to do it blind


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## dantejones (Jan 14, 2015)

UPDATE: I've just surveyed three new recordings, suggested by the responders:

Yuja Wang, with Verbier Festival Orchestra (2008-10?) - Wow, she's quick. Her articulation and clarity at speed is very impressive and exciting. She's young here, and that shows in the details of the piece - dynamic inflection in small phrases, embellishments, and distinct articulations. 

Marc-Andre Hamelin, with SF Symphony (2010) - With video slideshow of the score (incredibly helpful for me, I probably should have started with this one). Even reading of the piece, but careful attention to ornaments and large-scale phrasing (of four measures or more). His playing of grace notes, trills, and appogiaturae are the best of any pianist in this 'war'

Rudolf Serkin, with Philadelphia Orchestra (1959) - The most sure technique of any of these pianists. No matter how quick the passage, the phrasing of lines is very evident, as are each of the notes. He and the PO prefer a big sound, and i sometimes feel that they were enhancing the dimensions of this piece with stentorian orchestral tutti and much more piano pedal.

My updated list:

1. Rudolf Serkin
2. Murray Perahia
3. Hamelin
4. Pletnev/Lang Lang
-
6. Yuja


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