Customer Reviews

Lang Lang: Dragon Songs (Plus DVD)

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4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
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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!

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 [..]

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!

The CD is gorgeous, but the DVD is worth the price alone because one of the cuts is a long concert of Lang Lang playing many of the songs on the album, kind of like having your own front-row seat. What a treasure!

Awsome documentary and performance dvd with this cd/dvd compilation. THe dvd alone is worth the money. THe cd is outstanding with many traces of roots to Lang Langs home land and culture. Shows his parents and discusses sacrifices they made for the rising pianist.

I'm sure that this CD will sell literally by the millions in Asia, but it doesn't sound like exploitation. Lang Lang has gerat charm and sincerity as the foremost musical mabassador of his native country. Two days ago I heard him in recital in Boston, and the audience greeted six of these Dragon Songs with hysterical enthusiasm and flashbulbs twinkling around the hall. I couldn't resist, either. None of this music is taxing, or even that exotic. We get quite mildly Westernized versions of Chinese harmony, and the arrangements, by various Chinese composers, are like Ravel crossed with John Williams for the most part--tuneful nd atmospheric. There's plenty of virtuosity on display, harking back to the days when the piano was chiefly used by barnstorming keyboard wizards to dazzle the crowds. Lang Lang certainly does that here, and although the Yellow River Concerto is the Chinese equivalnet of the Warsaw Concerto from yesteryear, it fits the bill.

Many claim Lang Lang to have dire interpretational problem.
What in fact is 'interpretational problem'? There is simply no standard answer, as the topic is pure subjectivity.
That said, for those (Chinese especially) who claim that Lang's "Yellow River Concerto" lacks in any thing at all, I would rebut by a direct answer - Lang's Yellow River is his OWN Yellow River; not the one in the 1970's, nor 1940's.
Lang Lang grew up under the direct influence of Chinese music - his father was member of a Chinese performing troupe and plays the Chinese instrument erhu, as many may have known already.
This album compiles many songs that Lang Lang has grown up with, and he has a very intimate and personal approach to those songs, transcribed to the pianoforte.
Some diehard Chinese music followers query the combination of traditional Chinese instruments with the pianoforte in this album. Again, such worries are unfounded. Lang's ability to 'sing' on the pianoforte is abundant, and the pieces flow demurely and elegantly throughout the various tracks.
Just sit back and enjoy. Do not forget the truth that music is about the senses, not the critical cerebrum.

Lang Lang is one of the best new talents in music. His recordings of the Tchaikovsky piano concerto for example are precious. It is a very nice initiative to release this record, amplifying the reach of eastern music in the west. Today, among the big brands, only Naxos has a systematica approach to eastern music and has been producing very nice releases on Japanese and Chinese composers and groups. The repertoire that Lang lang explores in this record is fairly conservative, although modern, but it is very beautiful and interesting.

I agree with the reviewer Brian D. Kline [March, 2007] that the DVD itself is worth the cost but more than that, and some may have difficulty with this one, Lang Lang [or as some reviewers elsewhere at Amazon have referred to as "Bang-Bang"] seems to be settling down 'somewhat' from his earlier days but hey, what is expected, the almost 80 years performance seasoning [and demeanor] of a Claudio Arrau! The guy is still in his twenties although I will say and not deny for a moment that I was one who thought Lang Lang's facial muggings and bench contorsions went to the extreme along with apparent efforts to do a sort of very early Liszt, as it were, but only in terms of attempting to break those piano strings!

On the other hand, the DVD shows a more toned down Lang Lang and I do like the work he does with the young folks although it is ironic [for those who have seen the DVD] to see Lang Lang at the master classes in China telling the students to tone down their expressiveness [!] or, put bluntly, key banging which is a little like our friend GG [Glenn Gould] giving pontifications on the importance of posture [!] at the piano! That famous folding chair notwithstanding and which now is reposing at the GG museum in Canada. Under safety-glass no less!

It's hard not to like Lang Lang [or, as his people keep emphasizing, 'LAHNG-LAHNG' in pronunciation or, hey, try the word 'lawn' via a borrowed Boston accent [you know, 'kahhhh' for car sort of thing and simply add a 'g' ! ] and I think with some time he may mellow a bit although concurrently maintaininbg his enthusuiasm. But then hey, back to GG, and this from 'very' close amigos, to wit, and think the Big Apple CBS recording studio way back when a la, "Glenn, please, a 'vocalization diminuendo' to the extent possible, OK ... ." I don't know about you but the 'Tah-Tah-Tah-Tah-ing' ad infinitum grated after awhile!

Switching and noting that others have already commented on the presented music which I agree was well done and rather sedate where it had to be, between the DVD that exceeds 2 hours [131 minutes] and the CD of an hour an change, a rather nice package considering the $14.97 [as I type this anyway] price tag. Finally, 'what' Lang Lang has to say in the DVD and in terms of its substance appealed to me and I also think he is wise enough to know that he is 'not' another Liszt but then too he does make clear that he searches for his own identity which is always preferable to cloning the best of the lot, as it were, or, worse, such mixed bag cloning and then attempting to brag about it! Or, hey, various renditions of Lang-Lang at the piano in a sort of cross between Jerry Lee Lewis gone amuck and Stevie Wonder sans the shades!


Doc Tony


BTW, Lang Lang at Carnegie Hall [CH]. Worth the view! I recall certain purists getting all bent out of shape when Lang Lang in this his first CH recital introduces his father and they do the 'competing horses' thing with Dad on the 'R-U' [sp. ??] and son on the piano but as one can see, 'especially' if they know the CH audiences which can be akin to the UK Proms brethren from across the waters [in terms of sophistication] when they are happy versus when they are not , but the crowd seemed to love the duo! I admit at once that I did too! Interesting instrument that 'R-U', yes? Decidedly beats the "prepared piano" [! -- think about it!] thing tho' ... by a spoon! Ehhh, I mean a bolt ... a marble ... a mile! ;-)

I am glad Lang Lang made this recording. I bought it right after I learned its existence. I enjoeyed listeing to it. His technique is flawless. However, I feel his understanding of the Yellow River piano concerto is very limited due to his age and experience. He needs to read more about Chinese history and literature in order to understand these music better. Perhaps being more educated in histroy and literature is what he needs for all of the music he plays.