ON TOP OF THE NOTES

'... an ordinary, competent piano player.'

A view of pianist Lang Lang -
from JOHN BELL YOUNG

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. For those in search of a recitalist who nails down every note with the blithe yet aggressive assurance of a Monday morning accountant, Lang Lang is your man. While some might attribute the poverty of Mr. Lang's imagination to his youth -- he is only 18 -- I'm afraid that is a poor excuse these days. Mr. Lang's lackluster music making and routine pianism will hardly impress anyone who has heard far superior pianists of the same age. Nor will it impress those who want music making with heart, and which reflects something more than mechanical display.

Mr Lang is an ordinary, competent piano player. Recorded in concert, he cultivates a wooden, anemic sound and superficial display in favor of more probative musical values. Judging from what he offers so blandly here, his playing is merely dutiful in comparison to the heady musical bouquets offered by the best of his peers, notably the breathtaking, magical Spanish pianist, Javier Perianes (age 23); the phenomenal, poetic American, Roger Wright (age 26); the vivacious young Czech, Miron Smidak (age 21); the marvelous 20-something Freddy Kempf, and another 18 year old, Dmitri Demiashkin, a charismatic and imaginative Russian. Any one of these pianists is so many light years ahead of Lang artistically and technically as to render any comparisons futile.

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