Lang Lang continues to frustrate in performance at Opera House

Lang Lang is an enigma who possesses astounding technique, but questionable taste and judgment.

Lang Lang at the Sydney Opera House. Photo: Christie Brewster.

Winston Churchill described Russia as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. For me, the Chinese pianist Lang Lang personifies a similar conundrum. This is the third of his concerts that I’ve reviewed and my verdict remains the same: astounding technique; questionable taste and judgment.

On the evidence of his Sydney concerts, the latter trait seems to have worsened. Lang Lang’s focus this time was on Tchaikovsky, Bach and Chopin.

Intriguingly, it was Bach’s Italian Concerto that received the most rewarding performance. Lang Lang’s judicious tempo choices and crystalline articulation illuminated the outer movements’ polyphonic intricacies while his subtly controlled dynamics and fluid phrasing created a poised, stately account of the andante.

Unfortunately, in Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons and the four scherzos of Chopin, Lang Lang’s wilful mannerisms and tendency to play to the gallery took centre stage too often. Moments of genuine insight and thoughtful sensitivity regularly were followed by passages of self-indulgent display and crass ostentation.

Tchaikovsky’s 12 vignettes are exercises in pianistic scene-painting. In some of them, Lang Lang’s lightness of touch, well-balanced bass and treble lines and nuanced tone colours created moments of sheer delight. By contrast, his resounding fortissimo chords invested July and September with imposing power and exuberant flair while his dizzyingly fast account of August was a breathtaking display of virtuosic wizardry.

Elsewhere, Lang Lang’s indulgences got the better of him. His lack of rhythmic acuity and periodically brittle timbre often robbed the music of its wit and grace. He transformed February and December into ridiculously swift romps, galloping through them like a scared rabbit pursued by dogs.

In Chopin’s scherzos, Lang Lang displayed similar inconsistencies. His fast tempos and dazzling dexterity regularly thrilled but at the cost of periodically unclear articulation and submerged inner-voice details. Slower sections fared better as Lang Lang’s tonal warmth and well-sustained sotto voce passages created a mood of poignant yearning.

Lang Lang is a paradox. He has the potential to be an artist of the highest calibre as well as a brilliant virtuosic showman. However, considering his spectacular global success, one suspects this is unlikely to happen any time soon.

Lang Lang, Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, June 8.

Lang Lang and the Sydney Symphony play Grieg’s Piano Concerto tonight and tomorrow. Bookings: [phone]. Tickets: $77-$230.