Lang Lang is a classical pianist with the reputation of a superstar, which is once again apparent in a stiffly sold-out Concertgebouw full of striking new, largely Asian audiences. A ticket to his performance often means pianistic fireworks. Sometimes that fits well, but now he’s touring with the Goldberg Variations from Bach. Well-known, beautiful, expressive music, from meditative to hopping and everything in between.
After a somewhat long exhausted ‘Aria’ (the theme that then sounds a bit or completely different way thirty times; hence ‘variations’), the first variation still sounds nicely measured. But immediately afterwards Lang achieves what seemed impossible: playing Bach’s spirit from a Bach piece. A circus show with all the pianistic extremes follows: emergency braking decelerations as a vehicle for soulful glances, obscene speeds that entertain whole variations into mere glissandos (applause, so clever! But full of sloppiness), two hands on one key to play even harder and dramatic ending poses. . He makes up notes where necessary. Where unnecessary he hides melody lines. Call it a fresh interpretation.
bodyguards
The few times that Bach’s deceptive simplicity shines through, it is as if Lang immediately silences him by playing loudly over it: Lang Lang should be speaking, not Bach. Lang has the whip, Bach jumps through hoops. An empty shell becomes its music. Until Bach no longer shone through, and you vividly imagined Bach had left the hall, chasing the handful of audiences that hadn’t come for a spectacular show either.
But the vast majority of the audience got what it wanted: a superstar, including two broad bodyguards in the front row, for whom during the frenzied applause the dark hall sparkled with camera flashes for minutes. Who had to shake hands on the high red staircase of the Concertgebouw and sign autographs between two encores, including one dedicated to “this special year of friendship between the Netherlands and China.” Applause.
Also read: ‘Lang Lang piano phenomenon turns a mild stream into a powerful whirlpool.’