Review: Lang Lang's Slimy, Slick and Sickly Saint-Saëns

[@EddieJazzFan]

Videos like this are why I watch this channel. Thanks, Dave for honest opinions on music.

[@RajaPianist]

Man, I loved watching this review. If only I could say what so many Juilliard teachers say about this pianist. This review had me in stitches. Thank you!

[@叫爸爸-u6x]

What did they say 😂

[@reamartin6458]

Follow the money all the way through the yellow book Road from Hollywood back to tinkling silverware, China

[@MelissaMarshman]

I love your channel, you speak the truth of what many people with an actual ear are thinking. I don't know where to start with what I think is Bang Bang. As a pianist myself, I find your channel both very informative and funny! 🎉

[@mcintertz5593]

Finally someone who talks sense, I despair hearing him play, and those that laud him

[@mgconlan]

I remember when a CD by Yuja Wang came out, and an American Record Guide critic basically said that after Lang Lang, it was nice to hear a young Asian pianist whom he actually liked, so people could stop accusing him of being a racist because he didn't like Lang Lang.

[@ahartify]

Yeah, Yuja has poetry and musical sensitivity.

[@bloodgrss]

Yes. Yuja actually did a brief imitation of him in a funny video. Tho' her dresses are flashy, her expressions are subtle and appropriate for her joy and inner emotion playing the actual music. Another great example of the difference in taste and musical understanding between them: When chatting with Charles Dutoit about performing Liszt, he mentioned to her that a part of understanding the music would be understanding the milieu that influenced it in the period, and said she should read Goethe. And she did. Can't imagine Lang ever doing that...

[@mouisehay930]

Her Scarlatti is excellent!

[@bloodgrss]

@@mouisehay930 I absolutely concur! Masterly...

[@叫爸爸-u6x]

@@bloodgrssLang reads shit. There was a video about him introducing a Chinese dance and he pronounced the name of the dance incorrectly and said that was a dance of turtle while in fact it’s a festival type. 😢 this dude doesn’t not learn or read, just purely translating every note to a greasy meaningless crap

[@bunbie]

I would love to see a photo book of Richter posing like this.

[@violamateo-on8pc]

Or Gilels!

[@geuros]

Speaking of Richter, his recordings of both 2nd and 5th Saint Saëns concertos are absolutely incredible, especially with the 5th I think that's the best recording of the concerto ever.

[@alessandropelizzoli6613]

Oh yes, Richter Is superlative in all He have played... But for Saint- Saens ' Concertos we have also to remember the Great Ciccolini...

[@GreenTeaViewer]

I think Richter might have been into it

[@robertjason6885]

Hahaha. Richter. Great pianist, not butterflies and tulips.

[@Bobbnoxious]

In a rare moment of self-awareness, Lang Lang pulled the turtleneck over his nose because he couldn't stand the smell

[@DominoChallenge]

I didn't know hearing a middle aged classical-music-loving man vividly roasting an album for 20 minutes would make my day ... but it definitly did ! Now I am subscribed 👍 Btw I'm french and it's le bagel

[@jeffheller642]

One of your funniest, most intelligent and UNbiased reviews EVER. "If death could die this would be death dying" Please tell me that was an ad lib so I can be doubly impressed.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

It was all an ad lib.

[@Janaceks_Dad]

This is Lang Lang we’re talking about…of course it’s tasteless, as is everything he plays…

[@Kreisleriana1969]

I have the feeling LL and GinaAlice were dubbed in subsequently. „Pianists“ is such a mess it’s unbelievable 😮This would explain the different acoustics of the pianos vs the orchestra.

[@MrStudmcmuffin]

@@DavesClassicalGuide 😂🤣

[@KevinVanOrd]

That this unmusical, heavy-handed pianist has managed such success still stymies me.

[@richardtomasek]

He is a show-off who loves to show his technique at the expense of the music.

[@RobertJonesWightpaint]

I'm not THAT familiar with his approach - is he always this bad? Is he the culprit, or the record label - though if he is always this bad, then the record label deserves censure for promoting him..

[@KevinVanOrd]

@@RobertJonesWightpaint Some folks like him. I am definitely not one of them. I've never heard him play in a way that didn't massacre the music, or ever had the sense that music is anything to him but a series of notes to be performed in the order they were written. (Not that it keeps him from writhing on stage in an effort to pretend he has some sort of deep connection to the sounds coming out of the keyboard he's currently pounding into submission.) It does not seem to have hampered his fame or bothered his core audience.

[@robinraianiemi4030]

Lang Lang is just the worst. And shame on DG for issuing this. Have you heard that abomination of a Disney album? I did. It’s enough to make you heave.

@@richardtomasek Unfortunately, from the glimpses of the album I inflicted myself upon listening to this review, the technical aspect is quite subpar by today's standards. Mushy articulation, uncontrolled dynamics, rythm all over the place. I daresay he wouldn't even land a major conservatory first prize with that kind of performance, on technical merits alone.

[@Tim.Weaver]

I laughed at 1:21 when you talked about "Everything you can do with the flower". Your British viewers might remember the old comedy movie "Carry On Nurse", which featured Wilfrid Hyde-White's embarrassing encounter with a daffodil...

[@martinturner2309]

thanks for that flower

[@RobertJonesWightpaint]

Precisely the thought that came to my mind. I suspect we both have vulgar minds, but - why the hell not? Better vulgar than saccharine sweet, sickly slick performances from artists who should know better than allow themselves to be seduced by the sinister approach of the marketing department.

[@Taosravenfan]

I went to Lang Lang’s first American concert when he was a teen. What’s happened to him afterward is just sad.

[@zhichenwang8099]

If you are referring to his Carnegie Hall debut then it might be one of the best recitals in the 21st century, but yeah, almost everything Lang Lang produces after that is second class at most.

[@operarocks]

I'm dying. New subscriber. OMG. Classical music would actually thrive if there was more of this.

[@michael-pn9po]

Lang Lang - is a prime example of presentation over substance - I saw him in recital once and left at the interval as I was annoyed by his posing & lack of ability to communicate his vision of the music as a coherent whole. I can stand perverse performance if delivered with conviction and a sense of style.

[@bloodgrss]

@@poturbg8698 Yes, funny that also when he plays duets with others, the grimaces seem to go away too. Show over substance. But he does inspire fanatical devotion.

[@叫爸爸-u6x]

He has nothing to communicate, this man has no logic, hence his interpretation lacks substance.

[@anularedoro]

@@poturbg8698 Sorry, but no. He is not even a musician.

[@BriGuy1974]

If you think this is bad, wait until the Blu-ray edition comes out.

[@lucyliang6660]

I saw a little bit of the video and felt embarrassed just watching it..

[@marichristian]

Dave, You have wonderful taste. London's Royal Academy of Music had Lang Lang give a master class. I had a terrible urge to return my diplomas.

[@b1i2l336]

You...are...simply...THE BEST!!!

[@luccharbonneau9382]

A french Canadian crtitic called Lang Lang, Bang Bang

[@mgconlan]

That seems to be why DG's marketing people keep posing him with flowers: to show that he is "sensitive."

[@papagen00]

I like Biang Biang Noodle.

[@ER1CwC]

Lots of racists in Quebec. It’s really not acceptable to be making fun of people’s names like that.

[@papagen00]

​@@ER1CwCyes it is, I'm chinese and i love racist jokes. Grow some skin.

[@heifetz14]

ok ,so here is one for you. There was a string trio with Josef Suk,Yo Yo Ma and Dong Suk Kang. They were the "Suk Ma Dong trio.@@papagen00

[@BanaPanks]

Just discovered this channel through this video, and I'm obsessed. LOL. This is fabulous.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yay! Thank you and welcome! Have fun!

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

The cover artist forgot to put the halo over Lang Lang.

[@brianwilliams9408]

Hahaha! Comment of the year!

[@reamartin6458]

Nice 👍

[@garyfoster3854]

😂😂😂

[@noor-jumanakagalwala7053]

Hello Dave, This has got to be the most hilarious, comedic and devastatingly honest review of yours and probably in the entire history of classical music reviews. You could easily give all those stand up comedians a run for their money. Thank you for this video. It made my day.

[@petertaplin4365]

Maybe the notes were written by chat GPT??😂 Saw Alexandre Kantorow do the Concerto in Amsterdam. One of the best performances of anything I've ever seen. Luckily he recorded it on BIS with his Dad conducting.

[@michelangelomulieri5134]

Wonderful pianist Kantorow!!

[@robertjason6885]

Other than being about a half step under with your first “vocalization” of the Tarantella 3rd movement of the 2nd Piano Concerto, your review was probably the best time I’ve had watching a musical discussion. Wonderful!! Thanks so much.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Only half a step? I guess I'm improving.

[@robertjason6885]

@@DavesClassicalGuidehaha. Yep.

[@rbrilla]

Nice rant!! Could you at some time talk about the career of Ivo Pogorelich that ranges from the astounding (e.g. Schumann Toccata, Gaspard) to the dreadful (e.g. deconstructed Skrjabin 4th sonata which is somewhere on youtube), combined with an eccentric bellicose personality?

[@nickwills1212]

I​ knew​ nothing​ about​ this​ concerto​ so​ I​went​ to​ YTube​ and​ pulled​ out​ a​ live​ version​ by​ Richter.​ What​ magic​al​ playing​ especially​ by​ a​ man​ in​ his​ 70s​ and​ what​ a​ captivating work! Thanks, Dave!

[@briananderson8428]

2:50 "Did we really need him to tell us this?" HaHa. No, we did not. Dave, you are on a roll with this video!

[@Vandalarius]

Ok, I had to listen to the Pavane pour une infante defunte after your review. It would make great background music for a schmaltzy restaurant!

[@ewmbr1164]

with tasteless food and horrible wines

[@doc68mckeel76]

I know air guitar but air piano (1:40) is at another level

[@forlandm]

"What does _that_ mean? One hesitates to speculate.." :-))

[@philliprodgers9864]

This was PRICELESS! 🤣 Thank you! 😊

[@brianrein]

After watching this, pulled up his Egyptian concerto finale etude on streaming. So many wrong notes! How did he approve that tape?

[@RichardGreen422]

I thought DG over-promoted Karajan, but the words they used to describe him were like something from an instruction manual when compared to this.

[@johnh5958]

When this popped up on my screen I though it might be amusing to watch, and I was in the mood for something to make me laugh. I was not disappointed.

[@violamateo-on8pc]

There's a great early '60s film starring Peter Sellers called "The World of Henry Orient". It centers around two pre-teen girls who are obsessed with a hack concert pianist--played by Peter Sellers, hilariously. (A plus factor is Angela Lansbury playing a slutty older woman; another is Elmer Berstein's score). I have a feeling that Lang Lang is turning into his generation's version of Henry Orient.

[@ralphziigersson3472]

'It makes you want to scratch yourself....or take a shower...'😂😂😂...and 'How do you exagerate tedium...that's the question...well, they figured it out..'🤣🤣🤣

[@Peter-wd1yo]

Look on the bright side: at least he didn't "discover" Alkan. Even on a French album. That would only have been half obvious. However it is the recording that I dread ever happening "Lang Lang plays Alkan." How bad would Festin be if he can't play a winner like Carnival of the Animals? It's not even amusing to speculate

[@distributorovkvlt-points5481]

Still fairly new to Dave's channel, but was wondering, has he ever been more critical of an album then the evisceration he just gave Lang Lang's Saint-Saens album? Either way I sure did enjoy hearing him trash it.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yes. There's plenty more where that came from.

[@distributorovkvlt-points5481]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks Dave, I'll make sure to explore more of your past videos. Next let's hear all about somebody train-wrecking several beloved century-old Stravinskian masterworks. I love your caustic-as-caustic-can-be album reviews.

[@ahartify]

You should hear him on the anti-vibrato conductors like Roger Norrington. Not recommended for the overly sensitive!

[@danlo5]

Check out Dave's review of Makela's Sibelius cycle 😆

[@neilford99]

Norrington … 😮

[@johnd1442]

Lang Lang had a great start to his career under the guidance of Edna Landau at IMG Artists. Within not many years, he dropped IMG Artists telling them he wanted to be a superstar and they were too traditional to help him achieve that. Apparently this is what the rump that was CAMI promised him and so he switched. He may now be a superstar but, as Dave points out, much of what he has achieved - like these CDs - has little about being a major classical artist. For the Saint-Saens concerti, Sir Stephen Hough's Hyperion set is surely as good as it gets.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Actually no. Hough's set is a bit disappointing. Certainly the accompaniments are nothing special either.

[@johnd1442]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks Dave. Hough's recordings won a stack of awards but this was back in 2002. I will have to get the Lorte/Gardner version.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Awards schmawards! And I like Hough very much, but that just isn't his best work.

[@jerrygennaro7587]

This is what DGG has become. A glossy two CD set, yet they cannot bring themselves to release the Fabio Luisi Nielsen Concerti on actual CDs!

[@MarshallArtz007]

And couldn’t DG have given Kate Liu a chance to record a Chopin CD?

[@Gjoa1906]

This one is a gem - suddenly, I feel at home. What else can I say but, thanks.

[@nicholasworskett611]

'Pavane pour une Infante Defunte' is that rare thing: a title that sounds better in English than in French. In French it sounds like a clapped-out old Renault with a flat tyre.

[@JOSHUA-hs4zt]

Hey! So those are the good qualities of the disc. What are the bad qualities?

[@heybrook819]

After listening to this recording on streaming service, I start to believe it’s the beginning of the collapse of classic music.

[@carlob95]

Go woke, go broke 🤷‍♂️

[@RobertJonesWightpaint]

That, and I fear you may be right, would be a tragedy the classical music industry has inflicted on itself - and on the rest of us. I hope it'll grow out of its self-destructive phase, but it's about money, populism, the assumption that our attention spans and emotional depth are so limited that all we want is superficial performance by celebrity performers. If they can do this to Saint-Saens, Ravel, Fauré, just imagine (or try not to) what they could do to Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, Debussy, and more modern composers. Sugar-coating Shostakovich could be difficult, but who would bet that they won't try to?

[@KevinVanOrd]

@@carlob95 Oh ffs. Do you think that dedicating disc space to woman composers is where this recording went wrong? :eyeroll: ETA: David didn't help matters by referring to the second disc as the 'politically correct' one, as if recording woman composers was worthy of scorn. Lang Lang's playing is tasteless enough without the implication that including works by women makes a disc 'politically correct' or, in your words, 'woke'.

[@carlob95]

@@KevinVanOrd interresting! Maybe I see to much wokeness madness everywhere.😉

[@reamartin6458]

It started ending in the 80s but yeah now it’s a corporate mixture of Hollywood and China conglomerates

[@ewmbr1164]

Andris' contract with the Boston Symphony has been extended ad infinitum. I shudder at the thought of Bang Bang coming to Boston to play the Saint Saens Second Concerto. Oy vey....

[@叫爸爸-u6x]

Oh my 😅

[@musiclassica]

The marketing people at DG/Universal who are behind this campaign should be fired immediately. What a discredit to Deutsche G and to Lang Lang, who, at times, is a very good pianist. His manager should be fired, too, by the way.

[@geraldmartin7703]

Respectfully disagree. Have pity on them. They're desperate to sell this album.

[@LeeMisterMcGee]

Posing for photos sniffing flowers is a very Asian thing. My mother's Facebook feed is nothing but her sniffing flowers wherever she may travel. 😂

[@Bezart34]

Great and honest review, Dave. I don't know what DG are trying to achieve with this sickly sugar-coated bilge marketing?

[@geminian7846]

The first Lang Lang performance I heard was a broadcast of Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto from a BBC Prom. I ended up with my mouth open, not in admiration but in disbelief: never had I heard anything so entirely technical and entirely unmusical. Subsequently I made a CD compilation from various other Lang Lang broadcasts to torture a pianist friend of mine. I entitled it "The Dubious Art of Lang Lang".

[@steedbar]

This review was stellar! 😂

[@TheSocaCasual]

You're so good at what you do, man.

[@denisehill7769]

To my shame I looked some of this up on YT. That's two minutes of my life I won't get back....grim.

[@michaelstearnes1526]

Find the Cortot/Munch recording. It'll return those two lost minutes and then some.

[@denisehill7769]

@@michaelstearnes1526 I will do, and thank you! Incidentally if you think the recording itself is sickly, the video performance is even worse.

[@willemboone7912]

@@michaelstearnes1526 Cortot played the 4rth concerto, not the 2nd. Or does Lang Lang play both nr 2 and 4?

[@michaelstearnes1526]

@@willemboone7912 Cortot recorded only the 4th I believe. (nice transfer as I recall). I'm unclear about the Lang Lang. Not too certain whether I would risk purchasing this recording. Thanks for replying.

[@michaelstearnes1526]

@@denisehill7769 Thanks for the warning Denise. I don't play the piano but I've a good collection of piano recordings with various artists. I strongly recommend the recordings of Francois Samson and Robert Casadesus in the French repertory. Many thanks for your reply.

[@fabiopaolobarbieri2286]

When I was a kid, DGG cultivated its image as a classy publisher. I won't say they necessarily were what they tried to seem, but at least they tried. What the Hell happened to them?

[@mlu4192]

Thank you thank you thank you! Lang Lang’s affectations and over-the-top mannerisms must be called out by honest critics like you. The sad thing is how his super-stardom has influenced younger pianists, as well as musicians in general - how they emote with their contorted faces when they’re playing. True musicianship doesn’t need this kind of display (or distractions). And when it comes to musicianship, I’ve always find Lang superficial and “playing-for-effects.”

[@Paroles_et_Musique]

True, sometimes he overdoes it. But when you are a pianist and see some of the things he is capable of, you get on your knees. He has some amazing and out of this world technique and energy.

[@RonLittle-t4i]

Yes, absolutely! Just watch the grace with which Arthur Rubinstein sits at the keyboard.

[@mikeknowles5848]

"If death could die this would be that dead". I wish DG would print this review on the release, it would greatly elevate it to a piece of art.

[@chrismoule7242]

My God, I have just heard some of this on Classic fm. It's horrible...

[@jesus-of-cheeses]

I’ve been expecting a review like this, but pleasantly surprised at the expediency! Like Lang Lang, I love discovering Saint-Saëns for myself 😂

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I like him too. It's just his playing that sucks. At least here...

[@littlejohnuk]

Are the flowers real in the pictures?

[@5stagerocket]

liked and subscribed for being amazingly blunt & truthful & funny!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Thank you.

[@TheGreatPerahia]

Lang Lang is the most overrated pianist in history. He believes technique( being able to play anything) is more important than the way you play it. His interpretations and tone are awful and his mannerisms even worse. Sorry, I know millions love him but he is not going down as one of the great pianists in history.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

We don't know that. It will not be up to us to decide.

[@papagen00]

They call them Lang Lang's "cast" because he's now sponsored by Disney and these are the "cast members" like Mickey and Pluto and they will encore every Lang Lang CD with a rendition of "It's a Small Small World".

[@barryguerrero6480]

It seems whomever is actually in charge of DG, has managed to drive the bus right over the cliff. Do they actually pay staff members to come up with this stuff? I think "a Swann going through a wormhole" was my favorite thought this week.

[@marshallroberts8727]

I started to listen to it yesterday and could not take it anymore… I played the piano in the second piano concerto and I was vainly hoping for something interesting.

[@santiagorodriguez3330]

your best most honest critique to date.

[@dennischiapello7243]

"If death could die." 😅

[@davidrowe1004]

We didn't even need to listen to it to know it would be revolting.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

You always have to listen to it.

[@fabiopaolobarbieri2286]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Let us say you would have to convince me.

[@zevnikov]

Dear Dave. It seems you are the only voice of reason in the industry. Even CD booklets are going rapidly downhill. Thank you for all these warnings. It is a shame what a joke once prominent DG has become.

[@bbailey7818]

"Though the Philistines may jostle, you will rank as an apostle in the high aesthetic band, If you walk down Piccadilly with a poppy or a lily in your medieval hand. And everyone will say, as you walk your flowery way, If he's content with a vegetable love which would certainly not suit me, Why, what a most particularly pure young man this pure young man must be!" 😂 Sorry, but the photo irresistibly said Bunthorne to me.

[@henrypalmeter1195]

Thanks, Dave. Ive heard Lang Lang a couple times, listened to several recordings and just could never put my finger on why i find his playing less than enthralling. I loved your comments about what is "fed" into students about standard repertoire performance. His Bartok recordings are equally appalling.

[@neilhunt5644]

Also available on vinyl! I can’t imagine the price.

[@classicalalways]

But I missed "Hello Friends" - from the opening notes of the review, this was going to be pure magic - it was.

[@robertbubeck9194]

As with many of Dave's reviews, this one prompted me to pull something out of my collection rather than purchase (or not!) for a listen. To wit, I played the Saint-Saens Piano Con. 2 by Rubinstein/Wallenstein/RCA from 1958. How lovely! What fun! Sincerely hope that Lang Lang can pull out of his current nose dive.

[@michelangelomulieri5134]

😂😂 😂😂😂😂.. this guy is the quintessence of kitsch in classical music

[@lukestables708]

Brutal takedown, but honestly very funny. Thx.

[@robertbangkok]

Thank you SO much for this. You win "King of the Adjectives" for the year. You nailed everything wrong, from the performance itself to the insipid arrogance of DGG.

[@tudorconducta1929]

I so enjoyed your video. You talk with intelligence yet never patronise. I was in tears with laughter. The only problem is - now you made me curious and I want to hear that album. And what do you mean anything British related to food would not be appealing? Haha. Great stuff, thanks for this!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

There's never any harm in listening--that's part of the fun.

[@le_vicomte8536]

please we want more videos like that one

[@T4Tea4two]

I love hearing you read through goofy CD booklets. To invoke that one anecdote you mentioned with the Scotsman construction contractor, the writing on them makes my (feeble) attempts at writing feel so...adequate.

[@MrLenoir99]

Hilarious and so much to the point. And the courage it takes to listen to the guy's kitsch performances... Bravo.

[@rlawrence9838]

This is unrelated in the particulars but i really felt like I learnt something once when I had been listening to Ashkenazy's beethoven sonatas because they're obviously ingenious but I found myself not listening to them so much anymore but I randomly bought this obscure pianist I'd never heard of (I can't find it at the moment since i moved and i can't remember the name) playing the 14th sonata and even though it didn't have all the speed and intensity of Ashkenazy it did have something he didn't seem to have: HEART. I mean obviously passion and intensity comes from the heart and Ashkenazy has that and its appropriate to Beethovens music but there was something else that this unknown pianist played with that was more important that made me only listen to him after that. There's a hardness to Ashkenazy's playing that renders it technically brilliant but not very beautiful.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

You're in a minority there. Ashkenazy has never been viewed as a "cold" artist. Maybe you were just in a different mood later on.

[@richardtomasek]

The worst Chopin performance I've ever heard of Chopin's Polonaise in A flat is his.

[@LyleFrancisDelp]

This seems to me like a bad college term paper from a student that goes out of his/her way to make the binding as nice as possible. It's all about presentation, and nothing about substance.

[@christophermacintyre5890]

Domo arregato, Mr. Rhubato. (I know he's not Japanese, but I can'y resist a good pun).

[@jamespicht1128]

"No subtlety, no wit". That describes the recent Lang Lang perfectly. He's wildly talented, but he's turned into a caricature of a virtuoso pianist. No subtlety, no wit, just a lot of notes. And it sounds like DG has poured gasoline on this bonfire of narcissism. I enjoyed your review, but I wish it hadn't shown up in my KZbin suggestions. I have no reason to doubt anything you say, but now I feel a compulsion to listen to some of a disc of which I was happily unaware. I expect to suffer, but curiosity compels me to hear for myself how bad it can get.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Then you'll have a great time. Nothing to complain about.

[@jamespicht1128]

@@DavesClassicalGuide After listening to a couple of tracks, I can't say that I had a good time, except that it felt good when it was over. I couldn't write a review as entertaining as yours. About all I can say is that there were a lot of notes, some of them played very quickly, most of them the right notes. But a dementor had sucked the joy out of them. And apparently out of Lang Lang. His expressions looked like 20-year-old CGI. Unsettling.

[@cedarsdown]

So is it safe to say you don't recommend this CD set?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I don't know where you got that idea. Wait until it's out of print then spend a fortune on a used copy.

[@cedarsdown]

@@DavesClassicalGuide so funny.

[@DavidBoycePiano]

What a great review!

[@danielo.masson353]

"Playing as if lost in traffic". Forgive me but this review at times made me reminiscent of some paroxystic moment of Louis de Funès. 😂

[@RonLittle-t4i]

What do you expect from that clown who sits at the piano with fake drama? What a phony! What an actor! No doubt he’s laughing all the way to the bank! Thank you, Dave, for your truthful, honest appraisal! It’s reassuring to know that I’m not alone, that I’m not the only one who sees through the bunk that’s hurled at us. Thank you! Thank you!

[@robertczebotar7753]

Gosh...I have spent a few dollars for this record....I should first listen to you :))))

[@RobertJonesWightpaint]

At least you can play it as an example of the very worst, so you can better appreciate the very best. Slender consolation I know, but - the best I could do.

[@robertczebotar7753]

@@RobertJonesWightpaintYes! That's the truth! Greetings from Poland!

[@叫爸爸-u6x]

@@RobertJonesWightpaintCannot agree more. Every time after I listened to Lang Lang, I ended up appreciating better versions more.

[@carlconnor5173]

I remember that other guy doing the hand things. That video was hilarious.

[@GeorgeFrideric71]

Enjoying this Dave's Faves series.

[@bloodgrss]

Kids. That is the key. His huge Asian audience, not to mention his 'pop' star manner for many uncritical and unsophisticated fans, eat this up. He is a technically astonishing pianist, who I always felt lacks musical taste and intelligence. Show over substance...

[@craigdellapenna7103]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Lang Lang represents the epitome of treacle-y cliched finger-bangin clunky insults to our ears. nice to know that some people noticed... what the hell is going on with DG?

[@raybelcher]

Right to the point, thanks.

[@leestamm3187]

I find it annoying that he gets so much attention when there are many other pianists of his generation, including plenty of Asian ethnicity, who are vastly better. The triumph of promotion over talent, I suppose.

[@matthewbbenton]

A sommelier once suggested that the “Merlot craze” of the 80s/90s was due to its name: two syllables, easy to remember. I’d say the same about “Lang Lang.” I bet Leif Ove Andsnes would be 10x more popular if his name were something like, oh, “Magnus Carlsen.”

[@AloofSpace]

Don't the conductors get embarrassed by all that superficial posing ?

[@MarshallArtz007]

Lang Lang sells tickets and fills seats.

[@LouisDargin]

I wonder what Gary Graffman, Lang-Lang'sb teacher, things of it.

[@ronnyskaar3737]

Oh. The hand-stuff 😂

[@philscott6085]

It seems clear DG is marketing these "discoveries" to young Chinese piano students, most of whom are girls. Hence, the flower, the emphasis on Lang Lang in the balance, the lack of dynamism. Their delicate sensibilities and Lang Lang-obsession require it. That is not me being racist, because I think these girls are underestimated: it's DG being racist, if anything, and condescending. We know he can be better than this, although he has never been a very interesting pianist: In 2013 he recorded a perfectly reasonable Prokofiev 3 and Bartók 2 - Bartók 2! No wonder he left Sony. .

[@HoraceInExile]

I've never been made of money, so I tend to stick with a concert program for which I've shelled out good money. Only two or three times have I left at intermission and not returned. One of those was a Lang Lang concert. The self-absorption and frankly bizarre interpretations were just too much.

[@叫爸爸-u6x]

As someone who can read Mandarin, I was shocked when I went to some Chinese forums and saw ppl claiming Lang Lang to be the No.1 or Top 3 pianists alive. I agree with Dave, it’s irrelevant what his nationality is. He needs to do thorough research on these to do a better French album. What I disagree with Dave is that he has no potential and no true talent. He might be physically capable, but intellectually and musically, he is no match for the real talents.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

His talent is self-evident. His taste and intelligence are much less so.

[@vivianli6637]

His PR is very strong in China. They paint him as as the top 3 pianists of all time, or the best living pianists (even better than Martha Argerich) and tried to make people (at least those who don't understand english or listen to classical music) believe this is a fact. Anyone who went against this belief will be labelled as Yuja Wang or Yundi Li crazy fans, or haters who are jealous of Lang (if extreme, racist), sigh. Such act is to make sure he can earn easy money and loyal supporters (even after he is involved in fraud, like that VIP Peilian incident)

[@vivianli6637]

His PR campaign is very successful there, at least in some social medias, quite a large proportion of people deeply believed in this :/

[@VivianChiang-sr5rd]

Well...as a Chinese I'm shocked by your shock. Because I've heard Lang's statement for over a dozen of years since I was very young just starting to study piano. He even claimed that his music was envied by Martha Argelich ( I love Martha since high school so I remembered it very clearly). In China, few people buy his albums but everyone knows his success and wealth by playing piano ( also by other financial ways...) I'm just, well, get customer. 😂

[@VivianChiang-sr5rd]

In Lang's publicity script Lang had surpassed everyone, Yundi, Kissin, even Horowitz...and sometimes, Mozart and Beethoven...😂