Ok...before, I start I have no prejudice against the artist; actually I have never really seen him play so my initial impression was not marred by his circus acts.
So Lang Lang was just here on UM campus not too long ago and I missed listening to him, having heard bits of his playing on the radio here and there; let's just say his 'genius' reputation precedes him so I was quite angry at myself for not skipping my class and go to the concert
To make up for my loss I got his Live at Carnegie Hall CD and was prepared to be amazed and wowed. I could not believe what I was hearing.....a complete non-genius playing probably one of the worst Carnegie Hall debut ever. His technique is nothing to write home about, smearing keys and overuse of peddle; let's not go into those prolonged banging.
Hoping I was wrong, I pulled out some of the same songs played by Rubinstein, Horowitz and Yundi Li, and maybe Zimerman I forgot.... and to say the least Lang Lang is not even close to being in the same league.
Compared to his country man Yundi Li, Lang Lang is behind both in sheer technique, and musical understanding. (I don't mean technique as in he can hit the most number of keys in a sec, rather in music making techniques)
So, puzzled by why he is so popular, I went on to you tube and right away I discovered why.....his acts are so wild people just look at him instead of listening to his music. He butchered Rhapsody No2 just to get few more applauses from unlearned audiences....sad.
Now I am glad I didn't go to his concert, and I will probably keep the CD just to show people how ordinary he is.