The long-awaited and highly anticipated recording of Lang Lang performing Chopin's Piano Concertos nos. 1 & 2 has arrived. Both concertos are among the most beloved in the repertoire and Lang Lang's many concert performances frequently receive the highest praise. Lang Lang is joined by Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic in a brilliant pairing of talent and temperament. This is sure to become a benchmark recording of these beloved concertos. Lang Lang has sold over 100,000 CDs in the US alone and will be on tour September to November throughout the US, including many performances of the Chopin concertos.

2008-12-01 -- 3/5:: Soft and Willowy Chopin, with beautiful interludes
The teaming up of the illustrious Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta and Lang Lang are nothing less than starry.
In terms of performance, it is quite another matter. The overall effect of these two works as recorded here is bass-heavy, gloomy and dreamy in turns, which has everything to do with accoustics, and without the requisite sense of direction, which has everything to do with the performers themselves.
One wonders what Lang Lang or Zubin Mehta was trying to say in these pieces, except that they are involved in making a jumble of beautiful sounds, and beautiful they indeed are, though the sounds are most of the time uninvolved and distant. Certain passages of cadenzas do shine out, though, but some how they seem more sporadic than bridging.
The No. 2 Concerto in particular suffers from this lack of direction and involvement. All too often it sounded like a classy display of pyro-technique by the soloist and orchestra in turn. At other times, it sounded like an elegant drawing-room piece, without doing any justification to the composer's style and his intentions.
Lang Lang did perform good Chopin before this recording - namely, with Lawrence Foster some years ago in a live performance available on Youtube. And I have been to a live performance of that work by him early this year.
Granted that Chopin is NOT his best choice; even so, he has said that Chopin is one of his favourite composers. One has only to hope that his love for Chopin would somehow bring him back home to the realisation that not all composers are to be played with the same style of interpretation, the same tone colour, and the same approach, however original and genuine that approach is.
What Lang Lang needs is not maturity - it is realisation of musical style. Clearly, he hasn't been taught much of that at conservatory. One could only hope that he picks it up in good time during his performance career.

2008-11-23 -- 4/5:: stirring performance
I thought the interpretation was a stirring performance. May be a little too melodramatic for some.

2008-11-13 -- 5/5:: great recording.
I had to buy the CD because I went his concert. Although it is not like alive concert, it bring back what I listened in Cleveland. Very happy.

2008-10-09 -- 5/5:: A new Rubenstein is amongst us !!!
Bravo ! Bravo !!! Lang Lang is also a Chopin maestro. Phrasing extremely sensitive. A velvet glove masterpiece recording. Only the great Artur Rubinstein could match this style.

2008-09-19 -- 5/5:: A sublmial reading of Chopin's: and I bet that's the way Chopin would have it!
Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, the second one composed by him, was first performed during one of Chopin's "farewell" concerts before leaving Poland. The treatment by Lang Lang and Mehta in this recording is suitably nostaglic, though in terms of tempo not nearly as fast as most other virtuoso (notably Argerich, Yundi Li).
First Movement:
The opening movement's nearly 4 minutes orchestration sounded languid, but the piece soon gained beautiful momentum once the piano solo entered - and note the beautiful touching Lang Lang gave, together with the lively nuances to each phrase! Then at around 9 minutes the development sections started to explode. You may argue that the orchestration again was not nearly as explosive - but is the piece really `explosive'?
The solo passages assuaged sorrow, soothed dejection, and gave a sublimal account of the colourful emotions starting 12:40 minutes. This is one of the best performances of the section I've ever heard of. The rest of the movement leading up to the grand finale is a sheer ethereal experience, and the cadenza from 18:30 onwards is a real poetic wonder in the hands of Lang Lang.
A word of caution - the sound of the orchestra is less than authentic. Listen to the introduction section, and the coda section - the winds were OUT OF TUNE!
The Second Movement `Romance' consists of an even-tempo romantic account without deployment of any excessive rubato playing or any dragging. The touching again accounted for the sheer beauty of tone and freely breathable phrasing.
The Third Movement Rondo Vivace is not as break-neck paced as Yundi Li's. Notwithstanding, the performance was not without brio or sparkle. The syncopations were clever, and the accelerando smart at 2:55 to 3:00. Lang Lang did not choose to pound his way home swiftly in this live performance, but preferred to play the movement with striking contrasts. The scales at around 4:30 were brilliantly and cleaning done. It is only at around 7:30 that one hears a slight `slacking' in the reigns both by the pianist and the conductor. This lasted for around one minute, leading to the grand finale - the Coda. As if `all quiet on the Western front', a hushed atmosphere anticipated the great `athletic run' in the Coda starting from 9:30. Notwithstanding Lang Lang's diabolical technique, the Coda of the Third Movement is admittedly somewhat of an anti-climax to a great performance. (A much earlier live performance by Lang Lang and Foster in Great Britain would serve to bring the contrast home.)
The No. 2 Concerto is a studio recording.
This time, the orchestra gives a beautiful introduction in the First Movement's opening. The piano enters in nostalgic gravity. The embellishments, crystal-clear in the hands of Lang Lang, bespeak the highly vocal style that this Concerto has came to be famous for. The First Movement is a finely woven piece both emotionally and technically. The section starting 7:20 is fiery and daunting, followed by waves of nuances on the piano, leading up to another heroic outburst at 10:25.
No. 2's Second Movement:
The ardour of Chopin's for the beautiful but unattainable young soprano Constancia Gladkowska, according to the liner notes, is being substituted for by Lang Lang's love for his parents.
The `new treatment' to this Movement involves some explosive moments by Lang Lang that are rather unexpected. Luckily, the piece ends in a poetic reverie.
The Third Movement is a more `cheeky' reading than the rest. The youthful playfulness of Lang Lang surfaces at random, culminating in a brilliant Coda, hovering over an overall wistfully poetic mood.