The record companies seem to have an unstinting belief in their ability to sell Beethoven, Deutsche Gramophon in particular. As one of their star pianists is half way through his cycle of the concertos, another, Lang Lang brings out a recording of the first and fourth concertos. Christophe Eschenbach conducts his protégé and the Orchestre de Paris in a recording made in Paris’s newly renovated Salle Pleyel.
Lang Lang himself is spread-eagled across the cover in natty checked trousers, black coat and gloves, a colourful scarf and spiky hair. He looks pretty stylish and it’s as though this style – modern, smart but ever so slightly flash – defines this performance. Having marvelled at Pletnev’s technique on his latest disc, I can say that Lang Lang’s is no less sensational: there’s clarity and delicacy and phenomenal control (listen, for example to the cadenza in the First Concerto’s opening Allegro). And here the technique is employed in the service of a far less idiosyncratic interpretation.
The question is whether or not these performances have much below their scintillating surface. This question is made difficult to answer because the engineering shines such a bright light on Lang Lang’s playing, as if to point out to us its brilliance. This means then that something which should be there purely in the service of the music actually takes the limelight, and it’s quite difficult to pick out the moments of genuine insight and subtlety.
The first concerto is given a sprightly performance but one which often lacks lightness and humour, partly Lang Lang’s fault, partly that of his engineers. This is less troubling in the first movement than in the Largo where Lang Lang’s several attempts at subtlety just don’t come across as you feel they should: at the big rendition of the theme at 6’40, the triplet chord accompaniment doesn’t create a cushion of sound as it should; on the trills, you can almost hear the piano’s mechanism doing its work. It’s all a little disconcerting, especially so when listening on headphones. The same problems occur in the finale where Lang Lang’s accents come across as percussive when they should be playful; the technical security begins to sound like mere well-oiled mechanical precision, losing musicality. The syncopated episode in A minor from 2’45 simply comes across as violent and charmless.
In the Fourth Concerto, the fast passages sparkle and the many visionary moments are nicely rendered but the engineering once again works to the detriment of the performance. One several occasions I missed the mellow toned Blüthner and the far more realistic balance of Mikhail Pletnev’s recent recording of this work. There’s no doubting the brilliance of Lang Lang’s playing but in this concerto, even more than the first, the close balance and resulting lack of subtlety is more worrying. So often when the scurrying passagework should elaborate the orchestral texture it simply takes it over. Listen, for example, to the left hand runs at 3’20 in the finale, running into the arpeggios accompanying the string figures – it’s all a bit tiring for the ear.
In the fourth’s second movement, the piano’s interjections are beautifully placed and voiced to moving effect, and Lang Lang’s pianissimo touch is entrancing. A bonus DVD included with the disc has footage of this movement, showing Lang Lang has thought long and hard about the phrasing here. It seems such a shame then, that the nuances that the pianist is obviously trying to bring to his performance so often just don’t come across.
In a recent interview on Radio Three, Lang Lang talked about his desire not to be pigeon-holed as a pianist specialising in the big, Romantic repertoire and to show what he can do in other music, which, it is implied, requires greater subtlety and musicality. No doubt this disc will be snapped up eagerly by the pianist’s many fans but for the reasons outlined above, it’s difficult to tell how successful in this repertoire Lang Lang is. There’s Schumann’s Fantasie and a Mozart sonata on the programme for his Royal Festival Hall recital later this month so that might give us a better idea. As far as I’m concerned, for the time being the jury’s still out.
By Hugo Shirley