Liszt - My Piano Hero | Premium Franz Liszt Sheet Music Collection for Piano Players | Perfect for Classical Music Practice & Performances

Since any Lang Lang release spells a flood of gold in the Asian market, and almost as much in the West, his celebrity will make this new Liszt CD critic-proof. I've regretted the bashing he takes in the classical music press. Disdain is totally unwarranted for a sincere musician with enormous gifts. Mass adulation can lead to some bad tendencies, such as playing too many concerts and not paying enough attention to your own growth as an artist. Lang Lang is no doubt subject to these things, as the young Kissin was before him. Yet he has always seemed to me to be inward-looking while still possessing phenomenal technique.That the technique is phenomenal is proven by the ease with which Lang Lang tosses off an old chestnut, "La Campanella." It sounds all but effortless, and his command is such that he can deliver lovely nuances and touches of rubato that would be impossible otherwise. The fact that he wants to find delicacy in the music speaks well. The first number on the program, a romance on Liszt's song "Oh, pourquoi donc," established how tenderly Liszt can sound under the pianist's fingers, and he's just as touching in the thrice-familiar "Liebestraum no. 3" None of this feeling sounds artificially applied to me; it's genuine artistry.There's some unfamiliar and some "fun Liszt" here, like the Grand galop chromatique, pure circus music for those who want their circuses populated by piano virtuosos. Lang Lang seems to bend over backward not to barnstorm too coarsely thourgh the Hungarian Rhapsody no. 6; the irony is that this album is likely to cause critics to talk about barnstorming and steely fingers, all the cliches that the pianist is assiduously avoiding. Sony provides very good sound; the piano is powerful and realistic, allowing us to hear small differences in touch. Sometimes the touch is steely, I will concede, but that is infrequent and used for effect.The Liszt bicentennial has provided an opportunity to hear every keyboard style imaginable, and when I hear Lang Lang's perfectly sensitive account of "Un sospiro," I'm reminded of Nelson Freire's quiet mastery of Liszt's lyrical side, while his flashy "Rakoczy March," if not as electrifying as Horowitz's, reminds me of the new thoughtful virtuosos like Lise de la Salle, who just released her own riveting Liszt album. None of Lang Lang's playing is cookie-cutter.De la Salle has recorded Liszt's Piano Cto. no. 1, which ends this CD, too, the conductor being Valery Gergiev leading the illustrious Vienna Philharmonic. Gergiev takes Liszt seriously and has shown how well he conducts a warhorse like "Les Preludes." Here Lang Lang is suitably overwhelming, miked up close and delivering thundering cascades and octaves. there's nothing special in the orchestral writing, so Gergiev seems content to follow along; he's even a bit docile, which is unexpected. I found de la Salle's account mannered and artificial. by comparison, Lang Lang plays naturally, tending more toward Chopin than brass-plated Lisztian bombast. the fact that he can command thunder and lightning counts for a lot in a work that is, um, less than inspired musically.Can you be a showman, adored by countless fans, your every appearance an event, and still earn respect as a serious musician? Lang Lang has confronted the question for quite a few years already, and on this occasion I think the answer is definitely in his favor.P.S. Nov. 2011 - For doubters, it may help that the Gramophone's leading piano maven, Bryce Morrison, said of this album that it showed "a major talent moving in new and enlightening directions."