Search - Lang Lang :: Lang Lang: Dragon Songs (Plus DVD)

Total delight!

Stephen Damonte | Bay Point, CA USA | 05/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't praise this CD enough. Hearing this wonderful Chinese piano music, in Lang Lang's brilliant performances, is a total delight! Even the Yellow River Concerto, which could be considered kitsch, is given such a warm and sincere reading that it radiates a kind of "New World Symphony" energy. There are

guest artists playing Chinese instruments. And there's a bonus DVD about Lang Lang and his roots.

Pure joy!"

Thoroughly enjoyable!

OperaOnline.us | Boston, MA | 07/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Recorded in Bejing in 2006, this combination CD/DVD from Deutsche Grammophon offers a comfortable mix of East and West in fourteen musical selections that run the gamut from major compositions in China such as the 1939 "Yellow River Concerto," running 20 minutes in four major parts and moods [This writer's favorite would be "Ode to the Yellow River" with its rich base and cello introduction and melodic, flowing low-to-mid range piano melody] to the simpler traditional sound of "Dialogue in Song" piano solo. The blending of styles throughout is intriguing.. "Ode," for example, alluded to above, might sound like something straight out an American western, depicting in music the rolling rich prairie land of the American West, yet the music was written as a string choral cantata during the Japanese occupation of China in 1939 and, according to Lang, was a piece "that helped bring back our energy and self-confidence - a reminder that we would do great things." In other words, the piece is, at its foundation, distinctly Chinese in origin. But this two-for package contains something else; it contains a bonus DVD, widescreen, beautifully filmed and composed feature about the pianist, his journey back to China, his concerts and personal glimpses of his family life and teaching techniques to some amazing students. It is a wonderfully entertaining, National Geographic quality tour of Lang's homeland as well as an entertaining - almost hypnotic - biography of this talented pianist. It is a thoroughly enjoyable CD/DVD combination that is hugely successful in what it sets out to accomplish, both musically and visually. This review appeared at [..]"

A Brand New Intepretation of the 'Yellow River Concerto'.

Abel | Hong Kong | 05/02/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"That composition, heading this new album of Lang Lang, was premiered in the late 1960's by Chinese veteran pianist Yin Cheng-zong, who and others (including pianist Shi Shu-cheng) re-arranged the script based on Cantonese composer Xian Xing-hai's 'Yellow River Cantata' composed during the Sino-Japanese war in 1939. Yin was the soloist in the new work's premiere. Since then, I have grown so used to Yin and Shi's style of playing this work.

Lang Lang and Yu Long's new collaboration expectedly brought a host of criticisms, both at home in China and abroad.

However, being an open-minded listener, I must say that I find the Yu-Lang new collaboration not merely 'acceptable', but at moments beautiful and moving.

The first movement's 'Yellow River Boat Song' for once truly becomes a 'song', not the bombastic and macho style that I got used to listen to. There are much more interplays between the orchestra and the soloist, and the musical motives are well-marked. Some truly fine playing by Lang Lang, who otherwise lacked the technical prowess of maestro Yin Cheng-zong in some demanding passages of this movement. Lang is able to rise to the occasion in the long `coda' section, though.

The second movement 'Ode to the Yellow River' is majestic and moving in turn. Lang and Yu's interpretation adds on an melancholic touch to this movement that again was lacking in the previous grandiose versions, depicting the many hardships suffered by its nearby inhabitants as witnessed by that great river, the story being told now through music. Yu's orchestral backing in this movement is really wonderful.

The third movement 'The Yellow River's Rage' begins with an authentically Chinese style. This movement sets to depict the various facets of the great river. It is ferocious and majestic in turn, with some graceful passages like the opening pianoforte section that requires an almost `pi-pa-like' effect. In the latter half of the movement, the soloist leads the orchestra in a series of majestic outbursts that demand high technical prowess, culminating in a grand finale. Here, in this demanding movement, Lang Lang displays his ability to mesmerize through the diverse styles with which he treats the score. The tempo, however, is otherwise slower than Yin Cheng-zong's. There is less of a sense of `imminence', and more of a sense of aloofness when compared to Yin's version, of which the conducting of Yu Long should account for.

The last movement is a propaganda-like passage calling forth Chinese people to unite and defend the great river. Needless to say, the movement served a lot of propagandist purpose for the then PRC government. Lang Lang and Yu Long substituted it with an almost carnival-like gaiety by the orchestra followed by the soloist that befits the current mood. The middle-section's bombing-like intense passage leading up to the `hymn to Mao Ze-dong' the 'Red East' was substituted by a transitory section led by the pianoforte in a `stretching out' manner. The Red East was played with an appreciative beauty not hitherto found in Yin's early version.

Well, times have changed, and a propagandist piece like the `Yellow River Concerto' needs to gain new momentum in order to re-live its own musical life. Lang Lang and Yu Long succeeded admirably in this. Even Yin himself recently declared that his playing of the work now is drastically different from that of its premiere days.

Let those who live in the past bury their past!"