CityLife

Lang Lang: Schubert, Bartok, Debussy, Chopin

THERE aren’t many genuine superstars in the classical music world – but pianist Lang Lang is one of them.

His recital at the Bridgewater Hall, postponed from January last year, but with the same programme - though not necessarily in the same order - was packed to the rafters. It ended with the customary standing ovation.

But it showed that he is more than just a showman. Schubert’s A major sonata (D959) was the opener, and in its 45-minute heavenly length formed the entire first half.

Lang Lang is introducing people to music they’ve never really encountered before: proof enough of that in the fact that about half the audience applauded the first movement of the sonata as if they thought he’d already finished the whole thing.

It was worth applause. He made a huge contrast of its vehement and delicate aspects, with a tenderness in his expressive armoury that was quite matchless. The same high-focus approach came in the Andantino, though a slow building of its tension was all the more effective and its ending haunting.

Foot-tapping rhythms

It was obvious by the scherzo that foot-tapping rhythms are for him an invitation to tap his feet quite audibly as he plays, and I wished he was wearing the Adidas trainers he’s apparently sponsored to display, rather than his sober shoes.

And there was even more of it in Bartok’s piano sonata, with which he began after the interval.

He played with unalloyed delight in its hammering rhythms, making it sound like something written yesterday, rather than a near-100 years ago, and set the house a-chattering.

But the technical wizardry is always under keen control, and it was a fascinating exposition of the music, not just a firework display.

Fireworks – yes, Debussy gave one of Preludes that very name, and Lang Lang ended his selection of them with it.

There was fun a-plenty in this and in the ragtime echoes in Minstrels earlier.

But the more hazy, atmospheric pieces were the most individual, as he gave them an almost modern-Chinese quality, all clarity and precision amid the atmospheric harmony. La Cathedrale Engloutie was percussive and emphatic, rather than mystical.

The crowd-pleasing began with the last piece on the official programme – Chopin’s ‘Heroic’ Polonaise in A flat.

He played around with this to great effect – with the thundering bass octaves in the middle section absolutely precise – and we loved it.
 

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