When a major concert hall, fully packed with some 2,500 people, rumbles with an explosive ovation complete with bravos, you may wonder if something is wrong with you for not wanting to do the same. The majority of the audience, in this reporter's humble opinion, heard what they wanted to hear ― that their $200 ticket was well worth it.
Three stars ― maestro conductor Chung Myung-whun; pianist Lang Lang, who became even more famous when he graced the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics; and La Filarmonica della Scala (La Scala Philharmonic) of the revered Italian opera house. Hearing these three giants together in concert was naturally expected to be stellar. Yet, Tuesday and Wednesday's performances in Seongnam and Seoul, respectively, were disappointing to say the least.
Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2, one of the most frequently played works in Seoul, was disastrous. The structured playing and tempered whimsicality Lang demonstrated in his live recording with the Valery Gergiev-led Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater (Deutsche Grammophon) was nowhere to be found.
Lang's vulgar expressivity was baffling, particularly the self-indulgent manner in which he walked ― or tickled, rather ― the melodic lines of the second movement. This reporter does not criticize the pianist's dreamy head tilting and full body demonstrations of each note. Though some people dismiss him as a ``hammy actor'' for it (The New York Times), how can one not feel like waltzing to the ringing bells and whispering winds of the concerto? Some of the pianissimos were finely crafted ― subtle, sweeping and balletic, but Lang's touches throughout the first two movements were far too light, completely disregarding the weighty color of the Russian piece.
In the third movement, the crowd-pleasing pianist went completely solo ― caring very little to harmonize with the orchestra, and the rhythm faltered throughout. When pianist Lim Dong-hyek recently performed Tchaikovsky's First Concerto with Vladimir Ashkenezay's EU Youth Orchestra, a mismatched tempo in the third movement was immediately corrected. Such spirit of mutual music making was completely absent in both of Lang's performances.
In Tuesday's program, La Scala continued with a dispirited rendition of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. The orchestra seemed better fit for sensuous Puccini or Verdi tunes, and lacked the capacity to paint the full, bursting colors of the Russian piece. The tempo was tortuously slow throughout the first half of the work, and the orchestra members seemed more preoccupied with catching up and playing it safe.
Mahler's ``Titan'' the following evening, which required even more voluminous sounds, was enervating to hear. Maestro Chung, who is much loved in France and Korea for his masterful rendition of Mahler's entire symphony repertoire, seemed very lonely up on the stage, fighting a failing battle with all his might with an unprepared troupe.
A concert in which the audience, conductor, orchestra and soloist respire together, at times taking long, meditative breaths and other times taking one's breath away, seems to have become a rarity. The audience appeared pleased nevertheless, and Lang's CDs and the newly published Korean translation of his memoir were selling furiously in the concert hall lobbies. A personal autograph from the world media's favorite pianist apparently serviced the star-struck audience.
(The Korea Times)
Read the interview with Mr. Lang
No comments:
Post a Comment