Monday, October 27, 2008

Lang Lang: Chopin, The Piano Concertos




Some musicians have to wait a year, even two, to get from studio to music store, but Lang Lang's June recordings of the two pretty-as-a-bouquet piano concertos are already on sale. The Vienna Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta accompany magnificently as Lang delivers polished, whimsical and intimate renditions of Frédéric Chopin's two 1830 concertos. Chopin, a brilliant pianist himself, included plenty of notes with which to show off; Lang tosses the challenges off breezily. The audio balance is better on the live performance of No. 1.