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The odd couple: Lang Lang with the Vienna
Vienna Philharmonic at Verizon Hall (2nd review)
Steve Cohen
The Vienna Philharmonic is an extremely well balanced ensemble. All the instruments within each section blend with each other, and no one section stands out more than the others. Its unified tone is elegant, allowing the listener to relax contentedly and enjoy himself. One can see why American conductors like Bernstein and Levine fell in love with this orchestra.
The Vienna also shoulders a workload that surpasses anything expected of American orchestras. It fills multiple roles, playing concerts and providing the pit orchestra at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. This orchestra has accompanied a huge number of singers and instrumentalists. So its players took in stride the task they were given Tuesday night at the Kimmel Center and Wednesday at Carnegie Hall. But, for this observer, it was an awkward and dispiriting assignment.
During more than a third of its program the Viennese had to stay unobtrusively in the background as Lang Lang performed the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 (and then one solo encore)"“ work that doesn't offer much gratification to the orchestra or to orchestral fans.
Lang Lang's distortions
Lang Lang's physical histrionics don't bother me. Like Leonard Bernstein before him, he's not showing off so much as inspiring himself with his body language. I believe Lang needs to appear transfixed to get in the mood for his music making. Sometimes he gazes upward in rapture, at other times he conducts with his left hand what his right hand is playing. It's fascinating, and the sound of Lang's cascading notes during filigree passages was beautiful.
But I object to his extreme distortion of musical phrases, which seems more pronounced now than earlier in Lang's career. He elongates one phrase much more than its echoing phrase, and then he'll linger over one note in a sequence, pulling the music out of shape.
We know that Chopin was a romantic whose music asks for individual interpretation, and Lang appears as if he were a reincarnation of Chopin. But what we heard here was excessive. The Pole who relocated to Paris was channeled more effectively by another Pole who relocated to Paris: Artur Rubinstein.
The tone of the Steinway that Lang chose also seemed odd. It lacked a deep sonority that would harmonize with the timbre of this orchestra. Nor did it produce a transparent or brilliant sound that would allow it to stand out in contrast. What we heard was a mushy, middling tone.
The orchestra is subservient to the pianist in this piece, and conductor Zubin Mehta certainly was deferential to the soloist. But the beauty of repeated horn calls in the second movement did stand out.
Few girls (or blacks or Asians) allowed
This orchestra conveys a special look. For years it had no women and now I see only three amidst the hundred-or-so players. That's significantly more than its ethnic diversity. Lang Lang was the only Asian or African I saw on stage the whole evening.
The Vienna Philharmonic also sits in the traditional manner, with first violins on the conductor's left and second violins on his right. That's essential for Mozart and others of the Classical period but is often unnecessary for later composers. But even in the Rienzi Overture, by that late Romantic, Richard Wagner, we saw and heard passages in which the first and second violins played contrasting music, and it was helpful to have them seated opposite each other.
I love the excitement of the Rienzi, but, let's face it, this is junk music, with repetitive fanfares, drum rolls and bombastic sections where the strings just saw away. Mehta and the orchestra gave it a straightforward performance.
In the Schubert "Great" Symphony No. 9, the orchestra for which the piece was written offered a relaxed, mellow rendition—affectionate and, at times, passionate.
Some may question why Zubin Mehta, rather than a European conductor, was asked to lead this self-governing orchestra on this trip. In fact, Mehta trained extensively in Vienna and has an affinity for its traditions. He demonstrated that Tuesday, albeit with relatively fast tempi and restrained sentimentality.
To read another review by Robert Zaller, click here.
To read a response, click here.
The Vienna also shoulders a workload that surpasses anything expected of American orchestras. It fills multiple roles, playing concerts and providing the pit orchestra at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival. This orchestra has accompanied a huge number of singers and instrumentalists. So its players took in stride the task they were given Tuesday night at the Kimmel Center and Wednesday at Carnegie Hall. But, for this observer, it was an awkward and dispiriting assignment.
During more than a third of its program the Viennese had to stay unobtrusively in the background as Lang Lang performed the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 (and then one solo encore)"“ work that doesn't offer much gratification to the orchestra or to orchestral fans.
Lang Lang's distortions
Lang Lang's physical histrionics don't bother me. Like Leonard Bernstein before him, he's not showing off so much as inspiring himself with his body language. I believe Lang needs to appear transfixed to get in the mood for his music making. Sometimes he gazes upward in rapture, at other times he conducts with his left hand what his right hand is playing. It's fascinating, and the sound of Lang's cascading notes during filigree passages was beautiful.
But I object to his extreme distortion of musical phrases, which seems more pronounced now than earlier in Lang's career. He elongates one phrase much more than its echoing phrase, and then he'll linger over one note in a sequence, pulling the music out of shape.
We know that Chopin was a romantic whose music asks for individual interpretation, and Lang appears as if he were a reincarnation of Chopin. But what we heard here was excessive. The Pole who relocated to Paris was channeled more effectively by another Pole who relocated to Paris: Artur Rubinstein.
The tone of the Steinway that Lang chose also seemed odd. It lacked a deep sonority that would harmonize with the timbre of this orchestra. Nor did it produce a transparent or brilliant sound that would allow it to stand out in contrast. What we heard was a mushy, middling tone.
The orchestra is subservient to the pianist in this piece, and conductor Zubin Mehta certainly was deferential to the soloist. But the beauty of repeated horn calls in the second movement did stand out.
Few girls (or blacks or Asians) allowed
This orchestra conveys a special look. For years it had no women and now I see only three amidst the hundred-or-so players. That's significantly more than its ethnic diversity. Lang Lang was the only Asian or African I saw on stage the whole evening.
The Vienna Philharmonic also sits in the traditional manner, with first violins on the conductor's left and second violins on his right. That's essential for Mozart and others of the Classical period but is often unnecessary for later composers. But even in the Rienzi Overture, by that late Romantic, Richard Wagner, we saw and heard passages in which the first and second violins played contrasting music, and it was helpful to have them seated opposite each other.
I love the excitement of the Rienzi, but, let's face it, this is junk music, with repetitive fanfares, drum rolls and bombastic sections where the strings just saw away. Mehta and the orchestra gave it a straightforward performance.
In the Schubert "Great" Symphony No. 9, the orchestra for which the piece was written offered a relaxed, mellow rendition—affectionate and, at times, passionate.
Some may question why Zubin Mehta, rather than a European conductor, was asked to lead this self-governing orchestra on this trip. In fact, Mehta trained extensively in Vienna and has an affinity for its traditions. He demonstrated that Tuesday, albeit with relatively fast tempi and restrained sentimentality.
To read another review by Robert Zaller, click here.
To read a response, click here.
What, When, Where
Vienna Philharmonic. Zubin Mehta, conductor; Lang Lang, piano. February 24, 2009 at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center. (215) 790-5800 or www.kimmelcenter.org.
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