Not a Lang Lang hater, but this is really not a great performance. You can't deny that Lang Lang has good virtuosic technique, but the bartok sonata is like the prok 2, really boring if it's just banged out. he has no subtlety in bringing out the many stretti, and there's not much textural interplay. Argerich's performance of this, with her menacing cadence and dolce voices that fly around the barbaric axe-wielding main theme like sprites, is far better. Also Perahia played this very well.
Nice playing, but the piano sounds like a honky-tonk ... not the first time that I have thought this about a Steinway. Funnily, I have played old, bashed-up Steinways and found them an absolute pleasure, so I think my dislike is only for new ones!
@domcogan This piece was written for a Bösendorfer piano with extra bass keys in mind. (Found in the 2nd movement, here Lang Lang plays an octave higher)
Yes, I really agree with sshuck. Lang Lang is good. At the level of historically good.(One of the best throughout music history, especially technique-wise) If he is a white male and and has a little less technique and makes much less money many of these internet guys will love Lang Lang much more.
...if you have Lang Lang doing Bartok certainly it is going to be monotonous...go listen to some other interpretations...the Bartok will pick up on you...
For anyone who have played this piece, do you have tips on how to play the right hand of 0:32 through 0:42? I can play the right hand by itself fine, but its when combining them both that I can't play the right hand accurately. :/
E questo sarebbe un pianista ? Artista ? E di cosa ? Ma chi glielo ha fatto credere di essere un bravo pianista ? Lang Lang : lo sai cosa è il concetto di "cubismo in musica" ? Leggi sull'enciclopedia ! Non oso pensare a cosa farebbe con il Secondo Concerto per pianoforte !!!!!!!!! Lang Lang Leng Long .... Ascolta Gyorgy Sandor, Vladimir Askenazy, Zoltan Koksis .......altrimenti torna a scuola ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
This is a very difficult piece to interpret given the unique dissonances, and he just rushes through the entire thing without voicing any of the melodies.
@OriginalBasaliskos; he plays is CLEANLY, melodically, phrases, beautifully, and this is THE fastest version I have ever heard. No other pianist has come CLOSE to this...I have been a Bartok freak for about thirty ears now...heard EVERY major version of this piece...this is the pinnacle of the art...
@MrBassflute I think I like Kocsis' version much better because he brings out every nuances from the score. And the score does say "Allegro moderato". So I don't think the faster speed impresses me. If I don't have the score in front of me, Lang's version seems impressive.
Incredibly acrid and ugly music masterfully composed and played with gusto and verve....it still reminds me of a werewolf dressed in a grandmother outfit driving an oxcart with a broken wheel at full speed over cobble stone streets in some bulgarian backwater?
Note that his pageturner knew the sonata at least as well as LL. This is presumably, or should be considered a wild travesty of what Bartok piano is supposed to be all about, I mean, LL would disappoint if it was not a travesty. This guy can travesty even fairly mundane piano repertoire to the max, so he better DO SOMETHING on this Bartok, right? The technique is very good, he definitely practiced too.
I don't think you understand...he is not playing from the music. Perhaps if you played piano you would understand that no-one has 6 eyes, you can only look at so many things at once.
I am a pianist and piano and theory teacher, conservatory trained, and I have a damn good ear and very wide exposure to all manner of pianists, dead or alive, live or recorded, in all manner of repertoire.
Lang Lang is better than any of you. Watch and learn.
Seriously. If you came in and played like this for your teacher and friends, they would say, "Wow, you've really improved!" and would have no criticisms. And would rush you into Carnegie hall and be proud of you.
I beg to differ with the statement "If you came in and played like this for your teachers....they would have no criticism." You fags-pushers would find some bullshit to break down cause that's all you ever do. That's why nobody has any creative fire for composition anymore. You're sycophants, unrealistic, and biased towards the recognized.
@sshuck I'm not generally a fan of Lang Lang, but I agree with you. This Bartok Sonata is near the same level with Kocsis, Jando, and other "specialists" in this kind of music. Sometimes it's overpedaled, but mostly it's just good, solid and rhythmical playing.
PS - I was a classmate of sshuck's. The man played Rachmaninoff's FIRST sonata by memory. Let's see some of you commenter shmucks do that.
"What other major soloist gets reviews like ['bravura display of preening' etc.]?"
Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
Let's talk about reviews. In every age, there are artists about whom there's a conspicuous, ominous absense of any critique whatsoever (Boulez the conductor), and others whose bad reception would later become an amazing joke (Mozart, Brahms, Stravinsky, on and on). Ergo, reviews suck. Lately I've just found them unreadable, even positive ones...just narcissism dressed up as discernment.
So, the evaluation of critics (all critics, without exception) (about everything, without exception) is worthless and Boulez has never been subjected to critical evaluation (anywhere!) (thousands of reviews and articles notwithstanding)..
Might it be possible that you're speaking somewhat broadly here?
Upon some consideration, yeah, I'm willing to say the evaluation of all critics about everything, with no exceptions, is worthless. And I've yet to find the bad review of Boulez. I doubt one exists. I mean, sometimes artists are in poor form or go through sloppy phases, but those are only the 99% that are vulnerable, spontaneous, and/or emotionally invested. Versus Lang Lang, who undermines everyone's preconception of what Asian pianists are like, which pisses off everyone even more.
For all of you detractors of Lang Lang's style, his interpretations, his technique, his gestures facial expressions or body language, I have two things to say. One is something my father would tell me when I'd disagree with an interpretation: "Then show me how YOU would play it." Second: Until you have played Carnegie Hall or the Proms, your opinions are, at best, uniformed
Yeah, whether its because 1. Lang Lang is too embarrassed to be seen with a page turner next to him or 2. they just want Lang Lang only in the spot light or 3. Lang Lang doesnt want to whack the page turner while he insists of flailing himself about on that piano bench, either one, he should just memorize the shit like the real masters would.
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seriously is there anything musical to this song?music from past periods are so much better... i mean, this song sounds like some pissed off dude just bashing the piano
You have kept me up until 4:30 listening to your fantastic performances!! Thank you for putting on another wonderfully captivating, charismatic and delightful mini-concert. Ms. Argerich may, as your "friend" says be the "perfect" pianist but she never seems to look particularly happy about what she's doing. I think if you both came into a comprehensive school to introduce children to classical music it would be obvious who would have the greater success!! Thank you for enriching my life. John
@dercrazykraut woah yeah i do! hahah and yea i desperately need a mic cuz the one i did with the piano is a lot better then my other ones, orrr maybe thats cuz my camera is lame! haha but thanks a lot!
I'm not the biggest fan of Lang Lang...before you Lynch me, hear me out.
I think he's an excellent pianist...better than I'll ever be. He obviously has talent, otherwise he wouldn't be so well known, unlike some sub-par pianists who are outselling even him (ahem Maksim ahem)
I don't, however, like his interpretations. I give him credit for trying to be unique and creative, I just think his ideas are out to lunch.
Well, I just like the fact that his joy in music shines through each of his performances. There are plenty of interpretations, his is but one and in my opinion it is a perfectly legitimate and enjoyable one. I don't mind when a musician's personality shapes their playing (ie; Glenn Gould) when they have the talent and integrity to pull it off.
It might not be to your tastes, but to say that he is 'bad' is completely disingenuous.
I find it difficult to formulate. I remember 4 renditions of this piece. At one time I thought that Egorov did an okay job. Then I heard a Hongarian pianist, now living in Belgium playing this piece. I think his name is "lavente kendell" or something similar. It had so much more depth than all the others. I haven't heard Kokcis. Lang lang is just loud to my ears. No shades of gray at all.
@javierleonenriquez Dancing Lang surely makes it interesting... But... After a while Bartok starts to seem a bit monotonous. I guess it could be the case with most composers?
@Bagas I am sorry if I insulted you in any way. I completely agree that Bartok is quite a genius on piano. He wrote a lot of very good music. I love his piano works! However, as effective as Sonata seems to be, it is probably not the best piece he wrote. Same situation with pieces like Second Violin/Piano sonata which I played. If you are so inclined to defend your position, please tell me what do you think this music is about? What is it saying to your heart? What is the 1st mvm is about?
@ym42ym42 ...Stravinsky echoing Schopenhauer said music cannot express anything except itself...goddamn right...so "what is it saying to your heart" type of notion makes no sense...that is not what this kind of music is all about...this is not a Lady Gaga type of music...
@ym42ym42 It's about a fair lady and her great lion... This is modern music, it doesn't have a plain message, it makes an appeal to your senses. It's all about the color of sounds and rythm. It is a primitive and powerful music. It is as it is.
@ym42ym42 What is it about? What is it saying to my heart? I dunno, something primal or rebellious I guess. But that's not the point. I'm just implying the fact whether saying a piece of music is monotonous or not is purely SUBJECTIVE.
Seriously, though -it really annoys me how some people can be so closed in their own prejudices and are simply not amenable of even attempting to see things from a different perspective. Listen to him, by all means! What matters is what he sounds like, not how he acts. If his demeanor seems fastidious to you, then don't look at him- JUST LISTEN! That's what music's all about, listening and expressing emotions through SOUND. I very much agree with aislyngentile144.
I love this piece played by Zoltan Kocsis, unfortunately the video was taken out (don't know why). He just plays more cautiously. By the way I am not a pianist myself so it's a personal opinion
it sure is a monsterous piece in terms of technical difficulty, but let's not forget this piece is a masterpiece in terms of musicality as well. It is filled with Bartok's meticulous markings and directions. (just like any other Bartok's piano pieces) his markings must be observed and translated into some kind of personal interpretation. I'd like to know what concept lang lang had in his mind to rape this piece so badly.. it's so harsh and bloody. bloody folk dance? is that it?
Oh my God! Why people like Bartok, is utterly amazing. There is so much "speaking" going on with so little being actually "said" in his music... Not even some kind of relief, some harmony, just banging the keys with patterns out of thin air...
That said, I do have a respect for this guy, since he can bang the keys like a monkey, however, the choice of music is utterly incomprehensible.
Yes, I can play the piano, no, I could not even get close to play this, but frankly, I would never even try.
What is so frustrating about `Bang Bang` is that he has so incredibly much talent, charisma and ability and so little taste or respect for the music. He`s a total cowboy. Yes, this is an effective performance in many ways, and very impressive, but for art, go to Kocsis.
I study at a conservatory, piano major, and i would never say i could play better than an incredibly accomplished pianist and would certainly never go so far as to bash him. pretty rude and cocky. There is a difference between constructive criticism and being simply narrow minded. I respect your opinion but there is a much more effective and intellectual way to go about it. I appreciate the performance very much.
Goes to show that studying piano doesn't give one good taste. You can appreciate your Lang Lang if you want, but I'll stick with my Kocsis and Sandor.
Smaejdah, of course, is absolutely right. The fact that I can't do better than Lang Lang doesn't mean he doesn't suck, and it doesn't mean I can't express my opinion. As for intellectual comments, I don't think a red herring like "do better yourself" qualifies. Actually, it's an anti-intellectual cheap-shot that stifles discussion.
@aislyngentile144 who says people are trying to give constructive critcism? Lang Lang is obviously a great showman, and a stunning techinician, but people who really want to listen to music played from the heart and soul, i would seek other 'musicians.' It just goes to show that some people take music at face value...
@MrStrav81 please monsieur... if anything i'd say your comment shows how pretentious you are. pity you can not appreciate the sound of the playing and get over the man's personality. i for one like to see a musician that's not 'on a leash' as you so say.
Shit. I actually kind of like this. He was totally unprepared to perform it in public, what with having to use the sheet music and getting lost or struggling on more than a few occasions (1:21, 1:39, 1:49, 2:10, 2:36 etc.) but I like some of his ideas, particularly 0:31-0:43, 2:24-2:32, 3:14-3:26 and 3:57-4:08. Some of it is, of course, terrible, but I'd like to see him add this piece to his standard performance repertoire and see what he does with it with more familiarity.
As much as I haaaaaaaaaaaaate Lang Lang, I have to lulz even more at the comments on this video, though. "He has no artistic interpretation because he interprets the music by removing a couple slurs and staccato marks. It is by this fact that he is just parroting other pianists/no better than a player piano, because he has taken liberties with the score". Sounds hilariously backwards. I wonder if you guys discredit Sofronitsky's Scriabin for the same reasons lol
do your homework and stop hiding yourself behind these videos. If you at least knew Dusapin's work from the early 80's (actually, i bet you don't know any of his works other than two or three minor pieces) you would have known what I meant. He was more or less interesting two decades ago. But you are a spoiled arrogant kid. Too selfish to understand what I mean.
Btw, the academia is packed with people like you. Useless talentless bureaucrats. Have a good one.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Like everything else he bashes out ... learned too fast with no appreciation of the composer's intention ... it has as much Hungarian flavour as a cheap pot noodle. It isn't just a difficult piece in terms of notes and cadence, it's also a matter of modulation and vibrance which are completely lost in the swirling ego that is Mister bang Bang. Plenty of grade 8 piano students can do it so much better.
I just saw him play that yesterday in London...truly amazing and crazy! I don't really like Bartok, but my jaw dropped at the technical perfection of Lang Lang..fantastic!!!
hahaha, not really, it's only 15 minutes long... and i'd rather him play something he actually knows - no hungarian style in this playing at all - bartok would murder him
I'm just listening to June de Toth playing this. Her grasp of the Hungarian folky flavour is almost spiritual. But she is half Hungarian, I believe, and more interested in playing Bartok's music than some half-baked rushed-off catastrophe with no soul and no feeling.
Once you've mastered the robotic art of learning a piece parrot-fashion, it requires only a huge ego to bash it out to a public, the majority of whom don't know the difference between a work of art and a player piano.
Not a Lang Lang hater, but this is really not a great performance. You can't deny that Lang Lang has good virtuosic technique, but the bartok sonata is like the prok 2, really boring if it's just banged out. he has no subtlety in bringing out the many stretti, and there's not much textural interplay. Argerich's performance of this, with her menacing cadence and dolce voices that fly around the barbaric axe-wielding main theme like sprites, is far better. Also Perahia played this very well.
vst631 2 days ago
the page turner has a long walk :/
newgeorge 6 days ago
i love this song =w=
CrossxAngel 1 week ago
Bartok is like Kafka just for your ears....like it
RaeuberMrHotzenplotz 1 week ago
Lang Lang = Bang Bang. All "noise and crashing cymbals," to quote a phrase. Bravado is about all you need to impress most people.
Please compare to same piece played by Mark Westcott. No contest. A true artist.
friendofmusic47 2 weeks ago
god damn i really hate his face.. i like his energy
dsyglym 1 month ago
this piano sonata rocks! literally. I love Bartok.
dalecampbl5 1 month ago
Quelle magnifique interprétation ! :D
toxiicparadiise1 1 month ago
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Nice video, great performance... by the way, on Jan 13 until June, PianoScales channel start
uploading every thursday a small piano piece by Bartók.
PianoScales 1 month ago
Nice playing, but the piano sounds like a honky-tonk ... not the first time that I have thought this about a Steinway. Funnily, I have played old, bashed-up Steinways and found them an absolute pleasure, so I think my dislike is only for new ones!
domcogan 2 months ago
@domcogan This piece was written for a Bösendorfer piano with extra bass keys in mind. (Found in the 2nd movement, here Lang Lang plays an octave higher)
iwavns 1 month ago
@iwavns. How very interesting. Love Bösendorfers. András Schiff playing Schubert sonatas on one – magnificent.
domcogan 1 week ago
I heard this was supposed to be like rachmaninoff sonata on steroids
tjtheplay 2 months ago
Lang not too fast...hehehe
this is good but for me Argerich's version is better.
aizendarwin 2 months ago
Yes, I really agree with sshuck. Lang Lang is good. At the level of historically good.(One of the best throughout music history, especially technique-wise) If he is a white male and and has a little less technique and makes much less money many of these internet guys will love Lang Lang much more.
AHN5D 3 months ago
I think Eliane Lust does this piece a lot better. This one seems too fast.
HINDERIZED 4 months ago
@HINDERIZED She really brings the music to life.
OriginalBasaliskos 4 months ago
No one can touch Martha Argerich in this repertoire.
Shanefee1770 5 months ago 2
@Shanefee1770 haha,no,no one touch Kocsis in this repertoire^^
loboris1995 4 months ago
Lang Lang gave a solo piano recital and used sheet music?! That is totally against protocol.
ty2 7 months ago in playlist piano
...if you have Lang Lang doing Bartok certainly it is going to be monotonous...go listen to some other interpretations...the Bartok will pick up on you...
fredericfranc 7 months ago
@fredericfranc
I agree.
Jarnobh 7 months ago
This is so cool...
LoSignorino 7 months ago
wonderful bartok
Ingot49 7 months ago
For anyone who have played this piece, do you have tips on how to play the right hand of 0:32 through 0:42? I can play the right hand by itself fine, but its when combining them both that I can't play the right hand accurately. :/
mnfchen 8 months ago
why does everyone hate on Lang Lang? This is a fantastic and vibrant interpretation.
releasethefrogs 9 months ago 2
@releasethefrogs Por envidia.
donisra80 8 months ago
cuando no le miras suena mejorXD
PolpanckGuitar2666 9 months ago
E questo sarebbe un pianista ? Artista ? E di cosa ? Ma chi glielo ha fatto credere di essere un bravo pianista ? Lang Lang : lo sai cosa è il concetto di "cubismo in musica" ? Leggi sull'enciclopedia ! Non oso pensare a cosa farebbe con il Secondo Concerto per pianoforte !!!!!!!!! Lang Lang Leng Long .... Ascolta Gyorgy Sandor, Vladimir Askenazy, Zoltan Koksis .......altrimenti torna a scuola ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
darkblueangel1956 9 months ago
He play this somewhere else ... memorized o_o
kawaiime100 9 months ago
Too noisy!
EMURANATSUKI 10 months ago
poor guy who had to sit so far from the "maestro"...
melodije1 10 months ago
This is a very difficult piece to interpret given the unique dissonances, and he just rushes through the entire thing without voicing any of the melodies.
OriginalBasaliskos 11 months ago
@OriginalBasaliskos; he plays is CLEANLY, melodically, phrases, beautifully, and this is THE fastest version I have ever heard. No other pianist has come CLOSE to this...I have been a Bartok freak for about thirty ears now...heard EVERY major version of this piece...this is the pinnacle of the art...
MrBassflute 10 months ago
@MrBassflute If you want the "pinnacle" I suggest you check out Elaine Lust's video on here.
OriginalBasaliskos 10 months ago
@MrBassflute I think I like Kocsis' version much better because he brings out every nuances from the score. And the score does say "Allegro moderato". So I don't think the faster speed impresses me. If I don't have the score in front of me, Lang's version seems impressive.
kmpiano1 10 months ago
does anyone know how difficut this piece is?, is it very difficult? thanks
zelihic 11 months ago
@zelihic: Absolutely demonically difficult...one of the hardest things in the repertoire...notice HE doesn't have it memorized...crazy hard...
MrBassflute 10 months ago
Somewhere, Bartok is spinning in his grave...
Noshirm 1 year ago
Incredibly acrid and ugly music masterfully composed and played with gusto and verve....it still reminds me of a werewolf dressed in a grandmother outfit driving an oxcart with a broken wheel at full speed over cobble stone streets in some bulgarian backwater?
478493 1 year ago
bartok & prokofiev are most OVERRATED composers ever!
BassicStorm 1 year ago
@BassicStorm Why is that?
toquepiano 1 year ago
@BassicStorm Not even close to an accurate statement.
OriginalBasaliskos 11 months ago
@BassicStorm Why would you say that ?
JacobSijsma 11 months ago
Note that his pageturner knew the sonata at least as well as LL. This is presumably, or should be considered a wild travesty of what Bartok piano is supposed to be all about, I mean, LL would disappoint if it was not a travesty. This guy can travesty even fairly mundane piano repertoire to the max, so he better DO SOMETHING on this Bartok, right? The technique is very good, he definitely practiced too.
fredericfranc 1 year ago
I don't think you understand...he is not playing from the music. Perhaps if you played piano you would understand that no-one has 6 eyes, you can only look at so many things at once.
expect031294 1 year ago
To the haters:
I am a pianist and piano and theory teacher, conservatory trained, and I have a damn good ear and very wide exposure to all manner of pianists, dead or alive, live or recorded, in all manner of repertoire.
Lang Lang is better than any of you. Watch and learn.
Seriously. If you came in and played like this for your teacher and friends, they would say, "Wow, you've really improved!" and would have no criticisms. And would rush you into Carnegie hall and be proud of you.
sshuck 1 year ago 18
@sshuck
I beg to differ with the statement "If you came in and played like this for your teachers....they would have no criticism." You fags-pushers would find some bullshit to break down cause that's all you ever do. That's why nobody has any creative fire for composition anymore. You're sycophants, unrealistic, and biased towards the recognized.
intervalkid 1 year ago
@sshuck I'm not generally a fan of Lang Lang, but I agree with you. This Bartok Sonata is near the same level with Kocsis, Jando, and other "specialists" in this kind of music. Sometimes it's overpedaled, but mostly it's just good, solid and rhythmical playing.
PS - I was a classmate of sshuck's. The man played Rachmaninoff's FIRST sonata by memory. Let's see some of you commenter shmucks do that.
sonarrat 1 year ago
@sshuck
No doubt that Lang Lang is a better pianist than all the YouTube haters.
Isn't the question, though, whether he is as good as any of the 25 top pianists in the world?
More specifically, is he anywhere near the musicianship of any of them?
DS316316 4 months ago
"Isn't the question, though, whether he is as good as any of the 25 top pianists in the world?"
No, that is not the question. Not for me, anyway. Nor, I suspect, for those 25 top pianists either.
sshuck 4 months ago
@sshuck
Well, at least we understand each other.
I see your point that non-musicians have no right to criticize, but that just deflects the issue.
What other major soloist gets reviews like these?
See: London Telegraph: Lang Lang: A bravura display of preening NYT: Racing Chopin All the Way to the Wire
The New Criterion: APRIL 2006 New York chronicle
DS316316 4 months ago
"What other major soloist gets reviews like ['bravura display of preening' etc.]?"
Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
Let's talk about reviews. In every age, there are artists about whom there's a conspicuous, ominous absense of any critique whatsoever (Boulez the conductor), and others whose bad reception would later become an amazing joke (Mozart, Brahms, Stravinsky, on and on). Ergo, reviews suck. Lately I've just found them unreadable, even positive ones...just narcissism dressed up as discernment.
sshuck 4 months ago
@sshuck
Got it.
So, the evaluation of critics (all critics, without exception) (about everything, without exception) is worthless and Boulez has never been subjected to critical evaluation (anywhere!) (thousands of reviews and articles notwithstanding)..
Might it be possible that you're speaking somewhat broadly here?
DS316316 4 months ago
Upon some consideration, yeah, I'm willing to say the evaluation of all critics about everything, with no exceptions, is worthless. And I've yet to find the bad review of Boulez. I doubt one exists. I mean, sometimes artists are in poor form or go through sloppy phases, but those are only the 99% that are vulnerable, spontaneous, and/or emotionally invested. Versus Lang Lang, who undermines everyone's preconception of what Asian pianists are like, which pisses off everyone even more.
sshuck 4 months ago
@sshuck Ligeti has done his fair bit of bashing of Boulez (his compositions however: not his conducting)
AfroDeezeeYak 4 months ago
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@sshuck
Well, at least we understand each other.
I see your point that non-musicians have no right to criticize, but that just deflects the issue.
What other major soloist gets reviews like these?
Google: London Telegraph: Lang Lang: A bravura display of preening
NYT: Racing Chopin All the Way to the Wire
The New Criterion: APRIL 2006 New York chronicle
DS316316 4 months ago
@sshuck Well said
BasileusR 4 months ago
For all of you detractors of Lang Lang's style, his interpretations, his technique, his gestures facial expressions or body language, I have two things to say. One is something my father would tell me when I'd disagree with an interpretation: "Then show me how YOU would play it." Second: Until you have played Carnegie Hall or the Proms, your opinions are, at best, uniformed
technicalentity 1 month ago
@technicalentity Done I uploaded a recording of my performance
mhwestcott 1 month ago
what's this poor page - turner doing one mile behind the piano?
lorenzarthur91 1 year ago
Yeah, whether its because 1. Lang Lang is too embarrassed to be seen with a page turner next to him or 2. they just want Lang Lang only in the spot light or 3. Lang Lang doesnt want to whack the page turner while he insists of flailing himself about on that piano bench, either one, he should just memorize the shit like the real masters would.
allourep 1 year ago
Too fast! Not gritty enough.
plateaupiano 1 year ago
The fact that he is using the music warms my heart.
natber27 1 year ago 10
I love all the dissonance, bravo!
DiatonicSoul 1 year ago
That piano just got raaaaaaaaaaaaaped.
...in a good way.
IvanaBaljak 1 year ago
This sonata is pure Bartóquerie!
Good.
MarcheseCadmio88 1 year ago 3
Just bought tickets to see Lang Lang play Rachmaninoff in January! Hollaaaaah.
goldtogreysmoke 1 year ago
@goldtogreysmoke I'd ask for a refund. When it comes to Rachmaninov, Lang Lang usually goes all out to destroy tempi.
OriginalBasaliskos 1 year ago
@OriginalBasaliskos Naw dawg, I think I'll be attending. Any tempi is good tempi, to each his own.
goldtogreysmoke 1 year ago
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seriously is there anything musical to this song?music from past periods are so much better... i mean, this song sounds like some pissed off dude just bashing the piano
dogonskis 1 year ago
I wondered why he was (sometimes) called Bang Bang until I saw his footwork in this video.
Stonefyr 1 year ago 2
I love him. I wonder why he uses music. I'm sure he doesn't need it.
cellobuddy 1 year ago
素晴らしい！
bechamimi 1 year ago
You have kept me up until 4:30 listening to your fantastic performances!! Thank you for putting on another wonderfully captivating, charismatic and delightful mini-concert. Ms. Argerich may, as your "friend" says be the "perfect" pianist but she never seems to look particularly happy about what she's doing. I think if you both came into a comprehensive school to introduce children to classical music it would be obvious who would have the greater success!! Thank you for enriching my life. John
Pochkigena 1 year ago
@nyc11104 @nyc11104 impressive that u can memorise. but can u play as well as him?
chickeesuzy 1 year ago
@nyc11104 impressive that u can memorise. but can u play as well as him?
chickeesuzy 1 year ago
Brutal¡¡¡¡¡¡
Daviddelriorobles 1 year ago
You've got to be kidding me...that's pure prog...great composer!!!
ZzMatthewzZ 1 year ago
I can't hear any nusic. This is not a good perfromance of the music of Bartok.
He doesn't understand what behaind to notes...., I LOVE BARTOK , BUT THIS IS VERY POOR.
lorarararara 1 year ago 3
@lorarararara .....finally.
ajwiebe 1 year ago
@nyc11104 dont forget lang lang probably plays a very wide range of music. he may not have time to memorise everything he plays.
Simon0 1 year ago
@nyc11104 Because he can. :P By the way Bartók was using the sheets too. Except for Allegro barbaro. :)
BenceHartl 1 year ago
I love how you play!!! I've been to 2 of your superb concerts
pianomasterbrandon1 1 year ago
This is absolutely horrible... this pianist always give the impression of mocking the composers his playing.
SleazyProduction 1 year ago
Dear showman Lang Lang,ask to Mrs Martha Argerich how to play the piano.:-)
Ellinidara 1 year ago 17
c'est tres moche, voire horrible!
feidawei 1 year ago 4
I've never been much of a Lang Lang fan, but that was pretty damn good.
BachRocks314 1 year ago
Lang Lang is a virtuoso but rock star as well. He needs to perform a piece by Hovatter!
RumMyers 1 year ago
I have never heard this sonata before and to hear Lang Lang play it for me the first time, I'm impressed by the composition and the performance.
katchum 1 year ago
C est pas beau, mais techniquement...
TheGuilhem31 1 year ago
Don't look at his movements but listen...It's beautiful...
well i'm not one of Lang Lang's biggest fan...
I want to hear and see Argerich performing this piece...She's my Idol
aizendarwin 1 year ago
allegro moderato huh..!!!
aizendarwin 1 year ago
sometimes there gets to be a point where its just too much....
evanch94 1 year ago
Jajajajaja Este tipo ya tiene la fama arriba. Hay más arte que no ha explotado. Pero en fin... primero debo de mejorar yo.
arturojobrah 2 years ago
This is a slap from Béla Bartók...
dusanholy 2 years ago
Haha extraordinary!! He's having such a good time with this WONDERFUL piece.
kdj24370 2 years ago
Holy shit - isn't this supposed to be allegro MODERATO...!? Sounds more like allegro speedy-gonzalico to me...
dercrazykraut 2 years ago 2
@dercrazykraut u read my mind....
evanch94 1 year ago
Dude, I just checked out your channel - seems like you have EXACTLY the same digi-piano that I use (PX-110, right...?)
Btw.: You got a great voice, man!! You should get yourself a really decent mic for your videos... then they would be totally awesome!
dercrazykraut 1 year ago
@dercrazykraut woah yeah i do! hahah and yea i desperately need a mic cuz the one i did with the piano is a lot better then my other ones, orrr maybe thats cuz my camera is lame! haha but thanks a lot!
evanch94 1 year ago
I'm not the biggest fan of Lang Lang...before you Lynch me, hear me out.
I think he's an excellent pianist...better than I'll ever be. He obviously has talent, otherwise he wouldn't be so well known, unlike some sub-par pianists who are outselling even him (ahem Maksim ahem)
I don't, however, like his interpretations. I give him credit for trying to be unique and creative, I just think his ideas are out to lunch.
Rheostatik 2 years ago 3
Well, I just like the fact that his joy in music shines through each of his performances. There are plenty of interpretations, his is but one and in my opinion it is a perfectly legitimate and enjoyable one. I don't mind when a musician's personality shapes their playing (ie; Glenn Gould) when they have the talent and integrity to pull it off.
It might not be to your tastes, but to say that he is 'bad' is completely disingenuous.
Kitsua 2 years ago 2
He understands virtually nothing about this great piece, or perhaps he doesn't care.
mjelle1965 2 years ago
please!!! tell me you are kidding, go do something more productive insted of wasting everyones time
liszt100 2 years ago
can you elaborate?
pinchaszukerm 2 years ago
I find it difficult to formulate. I remember 4 renditions of this piece. At one time I thought that Egorov did an okay job. Then I heard a Hongarian pianist, now living in Belgium playing this piece. I think his name is "lavente kendell" or something similar. It had so much more depth than all the others. I haven't heard Kokcis. Lang lang is just loud to my ears. No shades of gray at all.
mjelle1965 2 years ago
God damn. Bela Bartok is so underestimated. Is not fair. His work in general is so amazing.
javierleonenriquez 2 years ago 29
@javierleonenriquez It really is.
Fishies125 1 year ago
@javierleonenriquez Bartok underestimated? I presume you don't meet the right people. Bartok is one of the greatest of the 20th century.
fabianidhesona 9 months ago
@javierleonenriquez Dancing Lang surely makes it interesting... But... After a while Bartok starts to seem a bit monotonous. I guess it could be the case with most composers?
ym42ym42 7 months ago
@ym42ym42 Monotonous? To you? Right.
Bagas 7 months ago
@Bagas I am sorry if I insulted you in any way. I completely agree that Bartok is quite a genius on piano. He wrote a lot of very good music. I love his piano works! However, as effective as Sonata seems to be, it is probably not the best piece he wrote. Same situation with pieces like Second Violin/Piano sonata which I played. If you are so inclined to defend your position, please tell me what do you think this music is about? What is it saying to your heart? What is the 1st mvm is about?
ym42ym42 7 months ago
@ym42ym42 ...Stravinsky echoing Schopenhauer said music cannot express anything except itself...goddamn right...so "what is it saying to your heart" type of notion makes no sense...that is not what this kind of music is all about...this is not a Lady Gaga type of music...
fredericfranc 7 months ago
@ym42ym42 It's about a fair lady and her great lion... This is modern music, it doesn't have a plain message, it makes an appeal to your senses. It's all about the color of sounds and rythm. It is a primitive and powerful music. It is as it is.
VacnaPaul 7 months ago
@ym42ym42 What is it about? What is it saying to my heart? I dunno, something primal or rebellious I guess. But that's not the point. I'm just implying the fact whether saying a piece of music is monotonous or not is purely SUBJECTIVE.
Bagas 6 months ago
Once again, he sounds great.
Seriously, though -it really annoys me how some people can be so closed in their own prejudices and are simply not amenable of even attempting to see things from a different perspective. Listen to him, by all means! What matters is what he sounds like, not how he acts. If his demeanor seems fastidious to you, then don't look at him- JUST LISTEN! That's what music's all about, listening and expressing emotions through SOUND. I very much agree with aislyngentile144.
BarbaraPloyer333 2 years ago 2
Rage of the Clown indeed.
konzolmester 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Schizophrenia meet pianist, pianist meet schizophrenia. Oddly enough, pretty interesting
Ocirne16 2 years ago
I love this piece played by Zoltan Kocsis, unfortunately the video was taken out (don't know why). He just plays more cautiously. By the way I am not a pianist myself so it's a personal opinion
crisgranda 2 years ago 3
it sure is a monsterous piece in terms of technical difficulty, but let's not forget this piece is a masterpiece in terms of musicality as well. It is filled with Bartok's meticulous markings and directions. (just like any other Bartok's piano pieces) his markings must be observed and translated into some kind of personal interpretation. I'd like to know what concept lang lang had in his mind to rape this piece so badly.. it's so harsh and bloody. bloody folk dance? is that it?
musicy88 2 years ago 7
some bartok i love...some dislike..i dislike this piece
dalecampbl5 2 years ago
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marcohorowitz8 2 years ago
what a kook
sapidpersona 2 years ago
Comment removed
Mnp1221 2 years ago
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Oh my God! Why people like Bartok, is utterly amazing. There is so much "speaking" going on with so little being actually "said" in his music... Not even some kind of relief, some harmony, just banging the keys with patterns out of thin air...
That said, I do have a respect for this guy, since he can bang the keys like a monkey, however, the choice of music is utterly incomprehensible.
Yes, I can play the piano, no, I could not even get close to play this, but frankly, I would never even try.
TiborFuto 2 years ago
maybe bartok is just hard to memorize for lang lang...
brazilamaral 2 years ago
What is so frustrating about `Bang Bang` is that he has so incredibly much talent, charisma and ability and so little taste or respect for the music. He`s a total cowboy. Yes, this is an effective performance in many ways, and very impressive, but for art, go to Kocsis.
Vlasta4444 2 years ago 2
I really love all the horribly negative comments. For those of you who commented so rudely i would really enjoy to hear you play this piece. Thanks.
aislyngentile144 2 years ago
Uhm, so you can't criticize just because you can't do better yourself? Are you maybe a 5-year old?
Then you never can dislike a movie, book, food or anything if you cant do better yourself.. stupid.
Smaejdah 2 years ago 4
I study at a conservatory, piano major, and i would never say i could play better than an incredibly accomplished pianist and would certainly never go so far as to bash him. pretty rude and cocky. There is a difference between constructive criticism and being simply narrow minded. I respect your opinion but there is a much more effective and intellectual way to go about it. I appreciate the performance very much.
aislyngentile144 2 years ago 54
Goes to show that studying piano doesn't give one good taste. You can appreciate your Lang Lang if you want, but I'll stick with my Kocsis and Sandor.
Smaejdah, of course, is absolutely right. The fact that I can't do better than Lang Lang doesn't mean he doesn't suck, and it doesn't mean I can't express my opinion. As for intellectual comments, I don't think a red herring like "do better yourself" qualifies. Actually, it's an anti-intellectual cheap-shot that stifles discussion.
schrodingasdawg 2 years ago 2
@aislyngentile144 Very well said.
Fishies125 1 year ago
@aislyngentile144 who says people are trying to give constructive critcism? Lang Lang is obviously a great showman, and a stunning techinician, but people who really want to listen to music played from the heart and soul, i would seek other 'musicians.' It just goes to show that some people take music at face value...
wagneristhebest 1 year ago
@aislyngentile144 i personally really like his interpretation
catnip4life55 9 months ago
Comment removed
MrStrav81 2 years ago
@MrStrav81 please monsieur... if anything i'd say your comment shows how pretentious you are. pity you can not appreciate the sound of the playing and get over the man's personality. i for one like to see a musician that's not 'on a leash' as you so say.
jakiner 1 year ago
he must have practiced 5 minutes before the concert
stagesix6 2 years ago 3
I saw "Bartok" and "Lang Lang" and just HAD to see this.
Possibly even more hilarious than I expected. Although I can't totally discredit it, as much as I'd like to. I do like how violent it is.
John11inch 2 years ago
Shit. I actually kind of like this. He was totally unprepared to perform it in public, what with having to use the sheet music and getting lost or struggling on more than a few occasions (1:21, 1:39, 1:49, 2:10, 2:36 etc.) but I like some of his ideas, particularly 0:31-0:43, 2:24-2:32, 3:14-3:26 and 3:57-4:08. Some of it is, of course, terrible, but I'd like to see him add this piece to his standard performance repertoire and see what he does with it with more familiarity.
John11inch 2 years ago
As much as I haaaaaaaaaaaaate Lang Lang, I have to lulz even more at the comments on this video, though. "He has no artistic interpretation because he interprets the music by removing a couple slurs and staccato marks. It is by this fact that he is just parroting other pianists/no better than a player piano, because he has taken liberties with the score". Sounds hilariously backwards. I wonder if you guys discredit Sofronitsky's Scriabin for the same reasons lol
John11inch 2 years ago
do your homework and stop hiding yourself behind these videos. If you at least knew Dusapin's work from the early 80's (actually, i bet you don't know any of his works other than two or three minor pieces) you would have known what I meant. He was more or less interesting two decades ago. But you are a spoiled arrogant kid. Too selfish to understand what I mean.
Btw, the academia is packed with people like you. Useless talentless bureaucrats. Have a good one.
john111inch 2 years ago
Yeah, its the good kind of percussive piano we need, This piece (not this video)
reminds me of someone who loses their temper quickly
kastlesucks 2 years ago
wow.. I feel the freedom..but in some places there is too much freedom, and I feel insanity.
jk2400s 2 years ago
a bit too fast to enjoy the two key elements of folk music: dance and song.
bcbdaggtrf75 2 years ago 5
What a slaughter!! nothing to do with Bartok.Ignoring most of what is in the score even it is infront of him!
MrRachpag 2 years ago
amazing! even with the score in front, he fails to respect most of the accents and slurs written in it; that's really special!
bcbdaggtrf75 2 years ago 4
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Like everything else he bashes out ... learned too fast with no appreciation of the composer's intention ... it has as much Hungarian flavour as a cheap pot noodle. It isn't just a difficult piece in terms of notes and cadence, it's also a matter of modulation and vibrance which are completely lost in the swirling ego that is Mister bang Bang. Plenty of grade 8 piano students can do it so much better.
bigbearleeds 2 years ago
hahahah, i like it, i ought to upload my last movement of this ;)
Will170392 2 years ago
Are you any good at gurning though?
bigbearleeds 2 years ago
I just saw him play that yesterday in London...truly amazing and crazy! I don't really like Bartok, but my jaw dropped at the technical perfection of Lang Lang..fantastic!!!
asalamale 2 years ago
how can you NOT like bartok? :o
Will170392 2 years ago
how can you rate that comment down?
load of ignorant swine who can't respect opinions! losers, go listen to the moonlight sonata, again, and again, and again
Will170392 2 years ago
oh,my god.....
elisacheu 2 years ago 2
Yes, it's pretty dire isn't it?
bigbearleeds 2 years ago
this guy makes me smile - but why is he using the score?!
Dormee787 2 years ago
he might not trust his memory..heavy work schedule...
gjeacocke 2 years ago
how brave to play this monster in a concert.
langliszt 2 years ago 3
hahaha, not really, it's only 15 minutes long... and i'd rather him play something he actually knows - no hungarian style in this playing at all - bartok would murder him
Will170392 2 years ago
but it certainly sounds like a monster in terms of diffculty.
langliszt 2 years ago 2
I'm just listening to June de Toth playing this. Her grasp of the Hungarian folky flavour is almost spiritual. But she is half Hungarian, I believe, and more interested in playing Bartok's music than some half-baked rushed-off catastrophe with no soul and no feeling.
bigbearleeds 2 years ago
I completely agree! This is disgusting... I just saw Gyorgy Kurtag giving a masterclass on this!! Completey unbelievable...
kusuna7 2 years ago
Once you've mastered the robotic art of learning a piece parrot-fashion, it requires only a huge ego to bash it out to a public, the majority of whom don't know the difference between a work of art and a player piano.
bigbearleeds 2 years ago