Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft

With crystalline technique, Lang finds the joyful heart of the First Concerto, playing with rhythmic precision and a bold, forthright tone in the faster outer movements while adopting a lovely singing quality in the beautiful Largo . . . Lang and conductor Christoph Eschenbach have forged a close working relationship, and the two are in complete accord here, investing this magnificent music with color, intensity, and a sense of exhilaration that grabs you by the ears.

What a beautiful recording! . . . The First Concerto is played with lightness and bounce in the outer movements and is as tuneful as imaginable in the stunning second movement's Largo. The Fourth Concerto is a whole other matter ¿ mature Beethoven ¿ and Lang rises easily to the occasion, playing with potency and handsome tone. The first movement makes us sit and admire his skill, and he is poetic and sensitive in the second movement. It would have been easy for him to run away with the final movement in a blaze of virtuosity, but he sticks to its classical outlines. These are superb performances, and the sonics are gloriously rich.

In this Beethoven disc (Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 4) you could predict that his playing of the first concerto would be crisp and jumpy with a first-movement cadenza that rocks. All true. And that's just what this concerto needs. His young man's approach to the deeper Piano Concerto No. 4 works . . . There's a welcome, wide-eyed awareness of the music's greatness with playing that aspires to a lofty beauty. Lang Lang is also out to vary the articulation of every phrase (a good thing) . . . His pianissimos have a youthful earnestness . . . Technically, he plays with admirable force and color that has only come about in recent years. Eschenbach's elegant influence is most felt in the second movement's Zen-like confrontation between piano and orchestra . . .

What a beautiful recording! . . . These are superb performances, and the sonics are gloriously rich.

Lang Lang is more than merely the usual media invention. Here is a gifted virtuoso, strutting his stylish stuff in music from Liszt to Mozart, Chopin to Tchaikovsky, Haydn to Schumann . . . it may just inspire your youngster to get back to his or her lessons.

The sound quality is very good throughout and the piano tone is well detailed . . .

Mr. Eschenbach and the orchestra start out, and they are crisp, alert, and robust. Then, when Lang Lang comes in, he is as you might expect him to be: interesting, assured -- super-assured -- and imaginative . . . Lang Lang, as you know, has loads of talent, and one of his chief qualities is playfulness . . . Mr. Eschenbach is admirable throughout. Lang Lang's . . . admirable throughout the album, both concertos . . . his impetuosity and musicality -- his talent and joie de vivre -- win the day . . . a lot of good playing on this album.

This new CD is Lang's first recorded brush with Beethoven, and it is a success . . . The first movement is given plenty of room, with the piano's opening solo handsomely played and a temperate attitude throughout. One admires his skill without his doing anything particularly flashy. The interchange between piano and strings in the middle movement (symbolic of Orpheus taming the Furies, claimed Franz Liszt) is excellent . . . the movement itself is spirited, carefree, and invigorating, with runs tossed off as if they were easy. Lang keeps the rhythmic line perfectly, again without showing off. At times in this concerto, he seems to be keeping his grand personality out of the music on purpose to avoid being criticized for the hated "showmanship." I would have liked to hear more of him. The First Concerto is more aggressively played, in a terrific performance. One of the most exciting things about Lang Lang is that when he plays softly and lyrically, he doesn't sound as if he's holding back; when he opts to stomp and yell, it sounds equally natural. Here he plays with lightness and bounce in the outer movements; the trills in the first movement are absolutely gorgeous, and the finale is filled with energy. The second movement is as tuneful as imaginable, and Lang clearly recognizes Beethoven's debts to Mozart and Haydn. The recording itself is excellent, with the balance only slightly favoring Lang and utter clarity throughout. Conductor Christoph Eschenbach is a true partner in the proceedings . . . He gets beautiful, flavorful playing from the Orchestre de Paris, and leads them with the same sensitivity to dynamics that Lang brings to the piano part. In short, these are beautifully realized readings by a brilliant young pianist.

. . . these Beethoven concertos are mostly idiomatic and stylish. There is some delightful playing in both works. Lang Lang is at his best in the slow movements, where his range of colour and articulation illustrates his all-encompassing technical command and sense of both elegance and pathos. The dialogue of the Fourth Concerto's Andante is especially touching: Lang Lang's emotional poise is superbly judged while Eschenbach's Parisian orchestra give solid support. The outer movements have infectious energy . . . In the Fourth, there are exquisite moments of delicacy . . . The sound is excellent . . .

[Rabinowitz]: His fingerwork became . . . even more polished . . . These are . . . upbeat and extroverted performances, sharp in contour, kaleidoscopic in color, bold in contrasts . . . the give-and-take between soloist and orchestra is exceptional . . . he's a significant contender, even in a very crowded catalog, and anyone who loves this music or who wants to hear what Lang can do when he's at his best should find it a welcome addition to their collections. Warmly recommended.
[Rucker]: Every time I've seen Lang interviewed on camera, he impressed as modest, self-effacing, and obviously consumed by his love of music. His English is superb and, one feels, equal to all that he would like to express . . . his perspicacity is striking . . . I don't know that I've ever heard a recording of any piano concerto given greater technical attention than has obviously been lavished on this one. To begin with, one needn't see them interviewed to feel the mutual esteem in which Lang and Eschenbach hold one another: it's audible in their combine music-making. The sound engineers have spared nothing in their efforts to capture the luxurious sound of the orchestra. They've succeeded so well that the sonic result, recorded at the Salle Pleyel this past January, seems almost surreal. Lang's Steinway is exquisitely conveyed in all its variegated colors and the balance with the orchestra is a marvel. His playing is dazzling, every run startlingly clear, every ornament a jewel. It is piano-lying of pointilistic perfection. Sound, ensemble, execution, unity on intent, unassailably great music: each category rates a superlative.

. . . the pianist reaches a musical and pianistic maturity that may well mark a turning point in his . . . career . . . Both of these much-recorded concertos emerge freshly minted in idiosyncratic, highly polished performances of real distinction. Moreover, they are crisply recorded in the newly refurbished Salle Pleyel and accompanied by Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris with complete empathy. The Piano Concerto No. 1 is treated not as a delicate work influenced by late Haydn but as a challenging, robust paradigm of a new era; the finale bubbles with confidence and brio . . . there's no denying the exciting spontaneity of the two protagonists -- with compelling results.

. . . Lang Lang's genuinely poetic and perceptive moments should not go unnoticed: for example, his pliable phrasing in both first-movement development sections, and his equanimous responses to the orchestra's insistent outbursts in the Fourth's slow movement. He gives a breezy, well planned account of No. 1's longest first-movement cadenza . . .

. . . there are numerous moments in these performances with Eschenbach¿s Orchestre de Paris where his emotional instincts, married to his flawless piano technique, generate sounds of wonder. Slow movements in both concertos shimmer with meditative beauties of phrasing and rubato . . . try No 1¿s opening allegro -- awesomely clear arpeggios, a subtle variety in tone and attractive playing . . . Lang is an artist . . . with great gifts.

No 1's opening allegro has an apt swaggering brilliance, but also moments of real poetry, and both slow movements are poised and subtly coloured, with a vivid sense of theatrical dialogue in No 4.

. . . spielen kann er. Und zwar nicht nur die blanken Noten.

Unbestreitbar ist Lang Lang ein Jahrhunderttalent . . . Die Leichtigkeit, mit der er alle Nuancen des Pianistischen beherrscht, macht ihn zu einer Ausnahmeerscheinung. Er ist in der Lage, jegliche Pointierung zu erreichen, jegliche Farbe sensibel zu erzeugen, die ein moderner Flügel wiederzugeben vermag . . . hier zeigt er das, was ihn auszeichnet: eine Musizierfreiheit und musikalische Imagination, die berauscht, die ihn zu dem besonderen Pianisten hat werden lassen, der er heute ist: mit Publikumseffekt aufzuspielen wie in alten Zeiten. Und dabei weiß Lang Lang in jedem Fall dieses Konzert mit einer Frische und mit Leben zu füllen . . . es ist ein Fest für die Ohren, ein junger, ja jugendlicher Beethoven . . . Und Eschenbach folgt mit seinem Orchester derartig flexibel und punktgenau, dass es eine Freude ist. Und ebenso brillieren die Musiker gemeinsam in dem wenig im Konzertsaal gespielten Konzert Nr. 4. Wie Lang Lang die Architektonik des langen 1. Satzes greift und begreift, ist famos, denn auch hier zeigt sich sein Talent: Auch hier finden sich Akzente, die so nicht ganz gedacht sind, die aber in der Gesamtaussage faszinieren. Mit einem Wort: Lang Lang berauscht mit seiner pianistischen Leistung ebenso wie mit seiner frischen Sichtweise auf diese so oft gehörten Werke, immer absolut bewusst, was er da tut. Und beweist damit, dass er eines der großen Klaviertalente ist, für das ihn das Publikum hält -- und ich auch.

Er besitzt brillante Fingerfertigkeiten, magisch schnelle Hände . . .

Man hört ihn dort [no. 1] zum Beispiel am Ende der Durchführung des ersten Satzes mit duftigen, traumhaft leisen Pianissimostellen. Lang Lang verwendet feinste Pedaleffekte, die das klassische Konzert immer wieder in impressionistischen Klanzauber hüllen.

[Concerto no. 1]: . . . flott, rhythmisch lebendig, auch schwelgerisch . . . er lässt den Werken blitzende Präzision zuteil werden . . . Lang Lang und Christoph Eschenbach [zeigen] am Pult des Orchestre de Paris Temperament und Engagement . . . Lang Lang . . . spielt sie kraftvoll und selbstbewusst. Die romantisch-duftende Poesie des Mittelsatzes zeichnet er weich, sehnsüchtig . . .
[Concerto no. 4]: Da werden Klavierfiguren . . . wie aus leisem Dahindämmern belebt, luftig durch die Gegend geperlt, um in weichem Bogen wieder ins Piano zurückzusinken. Affektvolle Bilder kontrastieren mit lyrisch weichzeichnerisch empfundenen Abschnitten. Nach den messerscharf artikulierten Erschütterungen der Triller lässt Lang Lang den Abgesang besänftigend ausklingen. Gestochene Pianistik verbreitet das Rondo-Thema. Vitalität verströmen die kurzen Klaviereinblendungen bei der Themenexposition des Rondos.

Höhepunkt der CD ist der Mittelsatz aus Konzert Nr. 4 -- mutig zelebriert als opernreife Szene, als herzergreifender Klagegesang.

. . . reines pianistisches Glück.

[No. 4] . . . reines pianistisches Glück, so in der herrlich abgetönten Terzenfallpassage nach den aufschreienden Trillern des Durchführungsgipfels . . . So leuchten die Soloantworten auf das Orchester geradezu . . . das Finale . . . gelingt am besten . . . reines, unbedrängtes Spiel . . . der chinesische Pianist [kommt] ganz zu sich.

. . . alles souverän gemeistert; auch lässt es Lang Lang weder an artikulatorischer Differenzierung noch an klanglicher Transparenz mangeln . . . der Dirigent Christoph Eschenbach und das Orchestre de Paris . . . [lässt] durch seine Agilität und Prägnanz aufhorchen . . .

Pletnev hat sich viel vorgenommen, aber seine spürbare Intensität und sein ungebremster Forschungsdrang scheinen dies zu rechtfertigen . . .

Dass der Chinese über außerordentliche manuelle Fähigkeiten verfügt und in seinen virtuosen Möglichkeiten kaum zu toppen ist, ist keine Neuigkeit.

La légèreté et le doigté du pianiste Lang Lang régalent son public . . . Un disque qui a fait l'unanimité . . . [Lang Lang] nous régale d'un Beethoven mordu à pleines dents, mais dégusté musicalement à la petite cuillère . . . Lang Lang est le roi de la "Fantaisie" . . . C'est assez charmant, cette santé musicale qui se permet de tout prendre non à la légère mais avec la légèreté de qui l'on peut dire, s'ils n'étaient assurément sur le piano, qu'il joue vraiment "les doigts dans le nez". Comme il se fait plaisir, Lang Lang, dans le Premier Concerto, cela se voit, cela s'entend . . . la musique est là et c'est du beau piano . . . le "Rondo" final, plein de verve et de vertu, rassasiera en gourmet.

. . . il vient de jouer . . . sous la direction de Christoph Eschenbach avec qui il vient par ailleurs d'en livrer un enregistrement de grande qualité . . . un vrai, un bel artiste, au jeu plein de jeunesse et d'invention, ludique et capable de mille nuances plaisantes et délicates, tout comme dans la "Fantaisie chorale" de Beethoven donnée le même soir. C'est festif, léger, espiègle . . . sobre par rapport à tant de ses prestations précédentes.

Son toucher souple et léger séduit immédiatement; sa lecture enthousiaste, finement accentuée, convient bien au caractère primesautier de la partition . . . le Concerto no. 4 par Lang Lang mérite un mot. On retrouve dans les mouvements rapides l'élan et la grâce qui faisaient de l'Opus 15 un petit bijou de sensibilité pianistique . . . Le piano a une très belle sonorité . . .

. . . somptuosité sonore indiscutable, avec un Orchestre de Paris aux cordes souples et charnues, aux vents gouleyants. La captation s'avère formidable de clarté et de transparence: tout paraît en pleine lumière, on entend tout! Cela permet de savourer chaque détail d'écriture et chaque pupitre . . . tous semblent subjectivement proches, à commencer par un piano généreux et chatoyant.