Lang Lang, Verbier Festival, Verbier
Thursday, 2 August 2007
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How good a pianist is Lang Lang? The dizziness of his ascent makes that question ever harder to answer, so it was good to hear him in a recital where his strictly musical qualities could go under the microscope.
The Mozart sonata with which he opened was stylistically authentic and wonderfully fresh, but he didn't have the amalgam of technique and artistry required to mould Schumann's volcanic Fantasie Opus 17 into a seamless whole. But his treatment of Granados's Goyescas was luxuriantly colourful, while his delivery of Liszt's Liebestod and Hungarian Rhapsody No 6 was dazzling.
As usual, he spiced up his Western fare with some contemporary Chinese pieces: whether swooning over the keys, or casually addressing his public, this elegant young man knows instinctively how to turn every second into a photo-opportunity. What we got with those five pieces was charm in spades, with my neighbour most visibly charmed: none other than the great Martha Argerich.
But as we'd seen in her "carte blanche" concert the previous night – works and musicians chosen by her – there's a remarkable bond between Argerich and this glossy colt 40 years her junior. We also got Beethoven's Ghost Trio with the violinist Julian Rachlin and cellist Mischa Maisky; Bartok's First Violin Sonata with the redoubtable Renaud Capuçon, and Lutoslawski's hell-raising Paganini Variations with the improviser Gabriela Montero. But the evening caught fire when Argerich and Lang Lang shared the piano stool.
Youth and age, eager inquisitiveness and august omniscience: their little personal interactions during pauses corroborated the message of their music, which was one of sweet unanimity about what Schubert was trying to say in his Grand Rondo, and what effects Ravel wanted to achieve with Ma Mère l'Oye. There was no whiff of the Chinese pianist's natural pushiness, because the Argentine had tamed him, and the musical results were ravishing. This unlikely pair should tour the world now.
This is the sort of thing that can happen in Verbier, and this year's roster of performers was a dream, but one stood out for sheer heroism: Argerich's contemporary Nelson Freire, delivering Bach, Beethoven and Debussy with his usual magic touch, faltering in Albeniz, and being carted off with a high fever.
