The weekend before The Cleveland Orchestra opens its season, Severance Music Center was abuzz for a solo piano recital from Lang Lang. I’ve appreciated that the venue’s orchestral offerings have been increasingly augmented by recitals in the past few years, and it was invigorating to see how a big name can draw a large attendance. Lang’s program was an interesting conception with a weighty first half of Mozart and Beethoven contrasted by music of Spain and Franz Liszt.
Mozart’s genteel Rondo in D major made for an elegant opening. Fleet textures were airy and breathable, and the pianist varied the voicing to bring out the supporting themes that can otherwise get lost in the balance. Dynamic contrasts were wide, if perhaps a bit over the top for Mozart. Contrasts were even greater in Beethoven’s stormy Pathétique Sonata. The composer marked the opening chord forte, though Lang must have at least tripled that. It was a shockingly harsh way to begin, but certainly conveyed the slow introduction’s wound-up dramatic tension.
I liked the way he shaped the first movement’s faster main section, with no shortage of the titular pathos. Hand-crossed passages were stylishly articulated, and long crescendos were astutely paced. The raw energy was almost a musical embodiment of that iconic, brooding painting of the composer as the archetypal temperamental artist.
While this approach worked to convey intensity in a relatively youthful work, it was far less effective in the rarefied late style of Beethoven’s Op.110 A flat major sonata. Warm beginnings were given with the same singing and emotive quality he brought to the Andante cantabile of the Pathétique. And the way the fugue emerged in the finale was quite striking. But more climactic passages were brash and out of place, and the performance lacked a clear vision – a necessity in a work of such depth and enigma. Lang can be wonderfully poetic when he reins himself in, but his instinct for theatricality can overwhelm music that demands greater restraint.
Following intermission, a hearty selection of Spanish works transported one to the sun-drenched Iberian Peninsula. The pianist selected six of the eight pieces that comprise the Suite española no. 1 by Isaac Albéniz. Gentle strumming over a sultry melody in the opening Granada left little doubt as to the country of origin. The feisty rhythms of Sevilla or the insouciant charm of Cuba were dispatched with easy flair, though more impressive were the rapid-fire passages of Asturias. Enrique Granados was represented with his most recognizable piano piece, Quejas, o la Maja y el Ruiseñor (The Maiden and the Nightingale). A languid melody was richly textured, decorated with feathery frills.
For anyone who subscribes to the notion that Franz Liszt wrote only showpieces, the Consolation no. 2 in E major would surely challenge that. Lang offered a touching, longing reading of this lovely miniature. That was all forgotten about, however, in the great Tarantella from Venezia e Napoli. Taken at an uncompromising tempo, it was a nonstop tour de force. Although the pianist didn’t seek to probe any deep meaning, it proved a thrilling display of technique to close the recital.
Two encores followed. Debussy’s Clair de lune was a welcome contrast to the virtuoso fireworks, and a transcription of “Mia and Sebastian’s Theme” from the film La La Land had an irresistible appeal.
