Review | Chinese pianist Lang Lang entertains in Beethoven concerto with HK Phil, showing injury that sidelined him is no longer a factor
- Elegant, quirky, and even magical, pianist’s playing had much to admire about it, even if he did contrive to catch Hong Kong Philharmonic players off guard
- Soloist’s performance of composer’s second concerto was the centrepiece of an all-Beethoven evening in which orchestra excelled under Jaap van Zweden’s baton
Lang Lang is back. The serious left-arm injury of 2017 that left the star Chinese pianist out of action for a year seemed all but forgotten in his performance of Beethoven’s second piano concerto with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra on Thursday.
His performance, combining elegance with great technique and plenty of flamboyant hand gestures, made for an eccentric and entertaining centrepiece to an all-Beethoven concert conducted by music director Jaap van Zweden.
Beethoven famously remarked to his publisher of the time that, along with his first, the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major was “not one of my best”. It’s a baffling statement: not only does this work offer a glimpse of the great dramatic expression that was to come in the composer’s later works, but it contains, within its Mozartian structure, numerous playful nods to teacher Haydn’s musical wit.
Lang’s interpretation left much to admire, from his wistful and elegant handling of the Allegro con brio movement to the sheer quirkiness of his reading of Beethoven’s own demanding and somewhat stylistically out-of-place solo cadenza later in the movement.
The extreme workout the work’s opening theme demands of a soloist was a walk in the park for the pianist. Fleeting moments of magic appeared in the gently lyrical Adagio, notably the spellbinding sotto voce interplay between soloist and orchestra towards the conclusion.