Lang Lang performed Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” in Prague
Chinese pianist Lang Lang is currently one of the most famous classical musicians on the planet. Ordinary concert halls have not been enough for him for a long time, but he performs mainly in the largest ones all over the world. In Prague, he had to settle for the O2 universum hall, where he performed the famous “Goldberg Variations”.
Live: Lang Lang
place: O2 Universum, Prague
date: April 30, 2022
© facebook interpret
Lang Lang was originally supposed to come to Prague in 2020 with a program composed of the album “Piano Book”, which is more of a cross-section of well-known compositions by various authors. In addition, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra was to sit behind him, which would help him fill the large space of the O2 arena with a more powerful sound. However, with the wine of two covid’s postponements, we have reached a stage where the Chinese pianist promotes his predecessor, in which he portrayed Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Goldberg Variations”. In contrast to the relatively well-digested and to some extent popular classics, the visitors of the performance received a slightly more demanding musical diet, in which the artist also remained completely alone on the stage. yet it was not Liszt’s “Transcendental Etudes” or Sergei Rachmaninov’s “Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor”, which you will find on the list of the heaviest piano pieces a little more often, “Goldberg’s Variations” is one of the more challenging a pianist can, and he himself Lang Lang has great respect for them. Johann Sebastian Bach composed them in 1741 for his pupil and the exceptionally gifted pianist Johann Theophilus Goldberg, and they are the beginnings of modern variations and at the same time they are one of the most beautiful and greatest works of their kind. However, the concert itself started a bit lighter, namely the fabulous-sounding “Arabesque in C Major” by Robert Shumann. After this relatively short introduction and a short break, we were able to immerse ourselves in a set of thirty songs, the length of which exceeds an hour and a half.
© facebook interpret
If you look for something about Bach’s “Goldberg Variations”, you will learn that you need to feel, understand, and bring some insight into them. It must be stated that Lang Lang has fulfilled all this perfectly for many years and he did it on Saturday at the university. The moment his long fingers ran across the keyboard of the perfectly sounding Steinway & Sons wing, as if he had entered another dimension in which the author himself was speaking to him, he told him a story that connected with this composition, in this way or tone, and he he thus retells it through his interpretation. This impression was also compounded by the fact that the artist played the whole concert without a note, which is completely incomprehensible to a layman for such a complex work. However, Yo-Yo Ma recently performed something similar in Prague on a pontoon at the National Theater, where he also performed six Bach suits for cello, which are even an hour longer, by heart. Moreover, the same is true of both acts – they can properly examine a given instrumentalism. Anyone who knows Lang’s work a little knows that he brings a lot of himself into most of the songs, something we can call our own manuscript or style that makes it relatively easy to identify, even in the case of non-classical works on soundtracks or popular compositions. In the case of the studio version of “Goldberg’s Variations” from 2020, however, this is not very true – on this album, they adhere much more to how the individual pieces were written. Fortunately, in the case of the concert version, he untied himself more, and in certain nuances and hints, his own invention emerged a little more forcefully. The magic of this work lies in its complexity and diversity, for a while it is slow, for a while it is dance, of course in the Baroque spirit, for a while it is sad and for a while it is joyful, dynamic and calm. He draws the audience into the action, and Lang Lang in Prague succeeded in this, mainly thanks to his experience of every single moment and individual tone – as if it were the most important and needed to give him the greatest depth.
© Chris Lee
The whole evening was absolutely perfect, except for one essential one trifle. O2 universum is a great space where both a rock and a pop concert, a congress, a comic-con or, for example, the finals of the Czech Republic in badminton can take place, but it is really not suitable for an intimate presentation of classical music. The overall impression would certainly be greater if it took place in a well-damped hall of the Congress Center type, where not every coughing, creaking, reclining of the seat can be heard, where the door is not afraid at any moment, spoons are tinkling, Lang Lang himself, who, after the first addition in the form of Chopin’s “Great Brilliant Waltz”, also thanked you for “opportunity to play ‘Goldberg Variations’ at the stadium for the first time”. In the first place, however, he thanked the enthusiastic audience, from whom he garnered well-deserved applause, and also admired the beauty of Prague, to which he returned after eight years. In this relaxed atmosphere and after another standing ovation, she added the traditional Chinese song “Jasmine Flower” to the farewell. Lang Lang proved to Prague again why it is a phenomenon that attracts several thousand people to classical music at once. Perhaps we will be able to welcome him a little earlier than we do now, because watching his mastery continue is a breathtaking experience, as are his live performances, which cannot be compared to home listening.