Thursday's concert in Amsterdam, on a grey, chilly June evening was all about Lang Lang. Tickets were like gold dust, devoted fans came prepared with their copies of his CDs and various piano music for the man himself to sign, all with their sparkly permanent pens at the ready. This was not just any classical music concert. Lang Lang was in town!
The current series of concerts by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Andris Nelsons is an exploration of a theme central to our modern understanding of Beethoven: fate. The dramatic opening of the Coriolan Overture with its clean, even brutal sound, was the perfect riposte and gave a foretaste of things to come.
In contrast, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor, composed at the same time as the Second Symphony in 1800, felt more restrained. Lang Lang sat at the piano for the long 110 bar orchestral introduction, twitching his fingers in preparation. It is all too easy to take for granted his amazing technique: the effortless scales whirling and swirling with such dexterity and lightness and his ability to find new meaning in each repeated fragment. Among the dramatic hair flicks and hands flung high in the sky, this was a performance so mesmerising, it was easy to forget there was an orchestra on stage. He made the MCO follow his lead with those intensely quiet pianissimos, before the glimmering darkness of the cadenza drew us to the musical world of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, such was the high level of storytelling and the freshness of his interpretation.
The piano solo opening the second movement depicted intense pain, something Nelsons understood as the audience was all swept along with expressive and attractive playing from bassoon and flute. But the speed of the piano trills put the focus firmly back on Lang Lang. Here was an artist clearly in his element, possessing a depth of understanding and confidence which was quite astounding. Launching straight into the third movement, his left hand countermelody pushing the orchestra ever forward was phenomenal. Music seemingly oozes through every sinew of his being and, even when not playing, his body articulates the orchestral parts with such commitment. A cheeky Presto to finish brought the audience to their feet, children racing to the stage to hand over flowers, and other audience members flocking to the top of the famous stairs to catch their hero before his exit. His stunning encore was Rainbow Connection, an arrangement of film music from The Muppet Movie which Lang Lang performed with great ease and poise.
The evening concluded with Beethoven’s Symphony no. 5 in C minor, a brisk reading full of fire and passion. The opening of the third movement, incredibly difficult for the cellos, was most impressive, especially when played so quietly and at Nelsons' incredibly fast tempo; the contrast with ravishingly raucous French horns couldn’t have been greater. Tighter discipline in the violins would have taken this performance to the next level, however, a most satisfying fugal section with fearsome double basses revived a sense of composure. Wonderful contrasts of colour abounded. The only slight disappointment were the natural trumpets (the only period instruments on stage) which struggled to match the precision of the horn and timpani’s triumphant declarations. Should the trumpets in Beethoven blend, or rather cut through the orchestral texture? A question for another time!
