Lang Lang came to town last Sunday, and weren’t we the lucky ones.
The Chinese pianist played a Steinway — a 10-foot concert grand, the biggest they make — to a packed house Feb. 22 at the Kravis Center. His strolling, casual entrance of nonchalance and self-assurance contrasted mightily with his playing speed, which belonged at the Daytona Speedway.
From Artur Schnabel to Clifford Curzon, to Benno Moiseiwitsch and Stephen Hough, I have heard them all, and none match Lang Lang’s artful studied showmanship — and brilliant technique. If being a showman is what it takes to fill concert halls in today’s crazy, instant-gratification world, then all power to him for filling seats.
To open his solo recital, Lang chose J.S. Bach’s Italian Concerto. Originally scored for a two-keyboard harpsichord in 1735 it was adopted for the pianoforte, invented as early as 1709, but not until Bach’s youngest son, the London Bach, Johann Christian, gave a recital of it on a piano in 1768 was the instrument put to general use.
The Italian Concerto is in three movements. The first, usually played allegro, had no such tempo marking from Bach. It is expressive, familiar music, a fine example of the bravura Italian style of that time, mastered by Bach. The second movement, Andante, is slow with repeated chords that are lyrical at times and sad on occasion, all of which the pianist shaped beautifully. Bach was keeping him on his best behavior.
Last came the Presto. It has tremendous vitality and a theme that he stretches out with long slow notes, only to get double-timed as the tune is turned upside down and played backwards. The colorful close is dance like and joyous, Bach having fun this time. It is a delightful work and it was played beautifully.
Next came Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. These 12 character pieces, as they are called, were a commission from the Moscow music magazine publisher Nikolay Bernard in 1875. Named for each month of the year, they have enormous appeal and Lang Lang obviously loved playing them. Individual months have had more popularity than others: “November,” also called “Troika,” was an encore favorite of Rachmaninov.
Lang Lang was particularly expressive in “April,” which ushers in brightness and a few rain clouds. The quieter passages were beautifully played and his contrast between soft and loud is carefully modulated. No thumping for effect, only even emphasis when called for. In “June,” it became clear that Lang Lang is perhaps the most expressive pianist on the planet; his controlled lyrical tone is simply remarkable, the result of long hours spent at the keyboard and his own desire for perfection.
“December” has a charming waltz theme. Tchaikovsky was working on his first ballet, “Swan Lake,” at the time. This captivating music launched Lang Lang’s round of subtle showmanship; on every first beat of the waltz tune he appeared to want to leave his seat to dance off into the audience. We were now prepared for when his showmanship would pop up in the rest of the concert. But it was never distracting, and always done with panache.
After intermission, Lang programmed the four Scherzos of Chopin. Scherzo No. 1 (in B minor, Op. 20), begins with two hair-raising chords to grab attention. In the frenzied passages the pianist showed his complete command of the keyboard. But in the part that quotes a Polish Christmas carol, “Sleep little Jesus,” Lang Lang rushed it in order to get to the furious race up and down the keyboard that closes this piece.
Scherzo No. 2 (in B-flat minor, Op. 31) I thought he took far too quickly, knowing there is so much ahead of a demanding nature. I was ahead of myself. He treated the difficult runs with apparent ease and played the song-like center part with a warm sensitivity. At a florid impassioned section he made a hand pistol, and with his pointed finger, “shot” the note he was looking for; a gesture that commended me to him for showing his boy-like playfulness and humanity. The high-energy ending was superb and the audience reaction was one of shock at such great pianistic fireworks, as he pulled both hands away from the piano dramatically.
I could not help but wonder if Chopin, weak all his adult life from illness, had this kind of energy when he wrote it. Scherzo No. 3 (in C-sharp minor, Op. 39) begins with clean staccato pitches followed by impetuous bursts of octaves. Lang Lang shaped graceful rallentandos and started the chorale-like melody that’s interrupted time and again by shimmering waves of falling scales, almost like peals of church bells off in the distance. Scherzo No. 4 (in E major, Op. 54) is notoriously difficult to play. And every aspect of the pianist’s showmanship was used to effect: the arched right arm, the idle left hand behind his back when not in use, the profile, regal head in air, the lingering hand — airborne, held above his head for a time — waiting to pounce on its note. And the free right hand to his face pondering the next note. We knew he knew the note, he just wanted us to know he was one of us.
It was a tour de force from one of the greats of the piano world and it was met by an immediate standing ovation and roar of approval. His gracious acceptance, with outstretched arms, drew us all in to his warmth and charm. And yes, he is an exceptional talent where the word genius certainly applies.
Appointed goodwill ambassador to UNICEF in 2004, Lang Lang has played for presidents, kings, queens and princes, but Monday night was our night, the people of Palm Beach County, who heard the playing of a fine human being who happens to have inspired 40 million of his country’s youth to take up the piano, where, up until the middle of the last century, Western classical music was hardly ever heard.
For an encore he played, dazzlingly, Mozart’s Rondo alla turca, the third movement of the Piano Sonata No. 11 (in A major, K. 311).