Lang Lang and Kissin, why the hype?

[rv]

Funny that somebody mentioned Lisitsa as being better than Kissin. I think these two are very much in the same league. They are very, very good pianists with very good technique, they play a lot of music and it's always nice to listen to, but none of their interpretations really stand out.

Lang Lang on the other hand is a clown IMO. Listening to him play Rachamninoff 23/2 and 23/5 at some concert proved that to me. Check it out on youtube. Disgusting performances. He doesn't care about the music. It's about himself and showing off, with his ridiculous facial expressions and gestures.

[emill]

HI to all !!!!!

Well you could probably group opinions of people into the profession they are in ..... pianists and music academics in general tend NOT to admire much the piano abilities/artistry of Lang-lang and to a certain extent in this thread ... Kissin.  Also included in this "not so thrilled category" is the Croatian pianist Maksim.

On the other hand one may assume that the general concert going public admires these guys as evidenced by the number of concerts they give in a year .. and the sales of their CDs and Videos.

There is also something in the pianist or music academic which differs a lot from what the concert going public enjoys .... Fantasie Impromptu, Flight of the Bumblebee, Appasionata, Moonlight Sonata etc... I am hard put at understanding what that is.

Let me just say that Classical piano appreciation in general has been on a steep downtrend with every decade since the 60's and THANKS to people like Lang-lang, Kissin and Maksim for making a good number of youth take to the piano .... for making a good number of youth give classical piano or music a second listen when ordinarily they would not care.

My son Lorenzo or "Enzo" often tells his friends that after he saw Maksim perform in Manila ... his life was changed and decided that being a pianist was his "calling".  You may refer to it by any name .... a youth .... a juvenile .... an inexperienced/naive calling but the effect was the same ... he got hooked to the piano.  I can also say a good number of his friends were also influenced in a positive way towards classical piano by Maksim and Lang-lang.

It is in this light that I view these guys aside from enjoying their playing .... even if considered "outrageous" .  As they say .... one of the tests of an artist is how much they can influence the public in a positive way with their craft.  Perhaps it would be safe to say that among the general concert going public, Lang-lang, Kissin and Maksim have made their positive mark (IMHO) 

 

[punkpianist360]

HI to all !!!!!

Well you could probably group opinions of people into the profession they are in ..... pianists and music academics in general tend NOT to admire much the piano abilities/artistry of Lang-lang and to a certain extent in this thread ... Kissin.  Also included in this "not so thrilled category" is the Croatian pianist Maksim.

On the other hand one may assume that the general concert going public admires these guys as evidenced by the number of concerts they give in a year .. and the sales of their CDs and Videos.

There is also something in the pianist or music academic which differs a lot from what the concert going public enjoys .... Fantasie Impromptu, Flight of the Bumblebee, Appasionata, Moonlight Sonata etc... I am hard put at understanding what that is.

Let me just say that Classical piano appreciation in general has been on a steep downtrend with every decade since the 60's and THANKS to people like Lang-lang, Kissin and Maksim for making a good number of youth take to the piano .... for making a good number of youth give classical piano or music a second listen when ordinarily they would not care.

My son Lorenzo or "Enzo" often tells his friends that after he saw Maksim perform in Manila ... his life was changed and decided that being a pianist was his "calling".  You may refer to it by any name .... a youth .... a juvenile .... an inexperienced/naive calling but the effect was the same ... he got hooked to the piano.  I can also say a good number of his friends were also influenced in a positive way towards classical piano by Maksim and Lang-lang.

It is in this light that I view these guys aside from enjoying their playing .... even if considered "outrageous" .  As they say .... one of the tests of an artist is how much they can influence the public in a positive way with their craft.  Perhaps it would be safe to say that among the general concert going public, Lang-lang, Kissin and Maksim have made their positive mark (IMHO) 

 

Thank you for those intelligent words. 

[pianoplayjl]

I can't say much about Kissin because I've only seen him play via Youtube. However, I've seen Lang Lang play and on that day he played Tchaikovsky concerto 1. In my opinion that interpretation was awesome. however, I also heard from many people that his playing of Rachmaninoff's 2nd wasn't that good. Therefore I can learn one thing: perhaps Lang lang is not consistent enough, that he is just a decent concert pianist. however, I'm not saying that he's not a good pianist. 

[philb]

Lang lang is a clown. Kissin is actually a good pianist. I wouldn't say the best of today, but he is around that area.

[starstruck5]

Lang Lang is technically gifted undoubtedly.  He admitted though, in the Master Class he took with Daniel Barenboim that he was never taught to analyse music structurally or harmonically. I found that a bit shocking.  It isn't even his fault. 

Personally I dislike his mannerisms and many of his performances, both the BBC broadcast of his Proms recital and YouTube videos either left me cold or angry!  In a Chopin Etude (op 25 no1) he literally stopped at one point and I don't recall Chopin indicating a fermata anywhere! Does he think he has better judgment than Chopin - who I am sure would have shot him dead if his ghost could have fired a Glock!

I also watched a Masterclass of his on YouTube where he was trying to inspire Lara Omeroglu - the sensational BBC Young Musician of the Year - if he couldn't see that she is one pianiost that epitomises love for the music she is playing, I worry for him. 

Maybe in twenty years time he will mature and prove me wrong.  As someone remarked on YouTube - good luck to him!

[dcstudio]

Lang lang is a clown. Kissin is actually a good pianist. I wouldn't say the best of today, but he is around that area.

at this time they both make more money playing the piano than I do and they have sold way more cds.  Who am I to say who is a clown and who is a great pianist. 

[philb]

at this time they both make more money playing the piano than I do and they have sold way more cds.  Who am I to say who is a clown and who is a great pianist. 

We are all entitled to some sort of opinion. I don't need to be a best-selling author in order to criticize great literary works.

[pianoplayjl]

I also dislike some of Lang lang's facial expressions because it seems he concentrates on is gestures at the expense of music. If he focuses on music more, then he has great potential.

[ethure]

I also dislike some of Lang lang's facial expressions because it seems he concentrates on is gestures at the expense of music. If he focuses on music more, then he has great potential.

actually if you watch a video named 'langlang's gone mad?', you may get some insight of his 'technique' of playing music -- he seems morely using gestures to bring himself into the mood that the piece requests, rather than the 'normal' process that a player is natually touched by the music and diving into it.

this may be why some people call him a clown -- he's so 'playing' the music.

[pianoplayjl]

I'm not saying i don't like his gestures. he's just over-exaggerating it.

[m1469]

Here is my latest viewpoint on this:  I am grateful for them.  There are many facets of musicians throughout the world, many of which you could say are keeping music alive, and enough of them are Classical Artists.  But, Lang Lang and Kissin seem to still be grabbing people off the streets and sweeping them off their feet a little.  While there may be doubts by some very sensitive and knowledgeable musicians about what, exactly, those two are offering audiences, there is still an undeniable fact that there is currently a sense in the world that pianism can be something wonderful, awe-inspiring, and that Classical music has a place in everyday society.  Yes, I think that is really true and I am grateful that they are in fact capable of inspiring individuals in this way to listen to music which at least itself is great art, and that Classical music has not completely lost the limelight to others.  Yes, I believe Classical music, specifically, is important.

What I personally think is happening is that more niche-markets are being created.  One of the arguments I think there could be these days about a draw to music and musicians who may not be expressing the ultimate depths of music, yet are still charismatic and compelling for many people, is that this is due to there being a kind of saturation in the market.  That, there are SO many options now that the "soul players" (etc.) are just getting shoved out of the way, so to speak.  But, this is not the only problem and probably not the problem anymore even if it ever was.  I think that you could take a real soul-player and have them play to the exact same audiences as either of the two artists mentioned in this thread, and a standard audience would most likely, pretty much literally, not be able to tell the difference in the sound/playing itself (nothing to do with how a person appears).   That is a problem of other things besides *just* saturation.

Even though these two have ultra widespread fame in terms of the piano-world, what they are doing is still a niche which doesn't actually fully define what the piano and its literature are all about - not to everybody, anyway.  It might define it to a large quantity of individuals in the world, but I believe it's still a kind of niche.

What I think is interesting about something which could be considered a cause of saturation - recordings and internet - is that you can also view it as a way to really develop your musical niche, since there is in fact an ease in reaching other people.  So, the saturation can be a double-edged sword (is that how you use that expression?).  I think one of the problems is that everybody is still recovering from the days without this same kind of saturation - and people are trying to fit into an old paradigm, on what may have once more truly and fully defined pianistic art.  I don't think it fully does anymore and it *seems* to me that there is generally a gap between "the industry" and the art.  

[pianoplayjl]

exactly. They are just one of the people who can lure the people into the wonderful world of classical music. In my opinion, It doesn't matter how good they are. The younger the pianist, the more people he can attract. that's what I think.

[chopinfrederic]

Lang Lang is my number 1 favorite. Kissin comes next. I love their performances.

[ranniks]

Anyone hating on Kissin has probably had wool in his ears.

Don't let your ego block out his awesome musiciality.

As for Lang Lang: he has a few bad recordings, maybe, but though he is not as good as Kissin if you ask me, he is definitely up there.

[deusreich]

Not really sure about Lang Lang. His technique is remarkable but he has really terrible interpretations in alot of the works he plays. Kissin? Because he's got brilliant technique, flair and brilliant sense of musicality. His interpretations are deserving of praise!

[chopinfrederic]

Funny that somebody mentioned Lisitsa as being better than Kissin. I think these two are very much in the same league. They are very, very good pianists with very good technique, they play a lot of music and it's always nice to listen to, but none of their interpretations really stand out.

Lang Lang on the other hand is a clown IMO. Listening to him play Rachamninoff 23/2 and 23/5 at some concert proved that to me. Check it out on youtube. Disgusting performances. He doesn't care about the music. It's about himself and showing off, with his ridiculous facial expressions and gestures.

Please stop saying bad stuffs about Lang Lang. He's technically very good. If you can't bear looking at him "making faces" you'd better not watch the video, just listen to it and you'll be able to enjoy the music.

I think Kissin is better than Lisitsa but some people like Lisitsa more because she posts many videos in her channel.

[awesom_o]

Both Lang Lang and Kissin are quite bad when it comes to duets!

You can watch videos of them playing duets with older, more experienced pianists like Martha Argerich. Sometimes you'll see her make a funny face when they screw something up!

[noambenhamou]

Please stop saying bad stuffs about Lang Lang. He's technically very good. If you can't bear looking at him "making faces" you'd better not watch the video, just listen to it and you'll be able to enjoy the music.

I think Kissin is better than Lisitsa but some people like Lisitsa more because she posts many videos in her channel.

I'm stuck on another forum on this listisa topic.  Supposedly she had a 3 hour video that for the first time she is sight reading all these monstrous concertos for the first time...

Anyway, how can you even put Lisitsa and kissin in the same sentence?

I like kissin for technical and consistency. I actually like Lang lang for inconsistency, risk taking because you never know when he pulls something wonderful, by accident or on purpose. They are both serious players of today, I don't think we can argue that.

Valentina is not a serious player. She is just doing some serious marketing, or shall I say, her husband.

[theholygideons]

 Lisitsa is the worst!!!!

[malaguena]

I am a HUGE fan of Lang Lang. His talent is exceptional to me. He is young however, which gives room for him to improve, and for his ego to relax some. My favorite piece performed by him was Franz Liszt's Liebestraum, No. 3. Absolutely gorgeous.

I think it depends on the listener, and what they are expecting to hear in their choice of music.

[ignaceii]

If I must choose, give me Kissin.
Lang has 3 carriers, 1 of them on stage, 2 outside in selling his image.
Made in China, what do you want. A hype, surely.
Kissin is still there, being little autistic, playing chamber music to, he's complete.
And Lang can use a masterclass himself instead of giving himself one.
And the whole classical industry loves it.
With only some young talent competitions won, no world class ones, he and YuYuYuYu get it all.

SAD SAD, hope he falls of his piano chair soon.

And If you won't real bullets in Liszt, you don't need to look at Berezovsky, who ended I think 7 or 8th in Leeds, where the winner was Ovchinnikov.
When you have a recording of the transcendental studies by Ovchinnikov, you will NeVeR forget the man. I'm not alone in saying. But nobody knows.
The big talents weren't merchandised like now. And they left little on record.

That is the SAD thing. Ovchinnikov is of another world. Still he's professor, gives concerts, still 52 I think.

But everyone needs popstars, with the accent on pop, like Wangs. Lisitsa hearing her Moonlight doesn't have enough depth in her playing. Their fingers fly too much, like Wangs, but there is no sounddepth, so they cannot let the separate voices in the piece sing. It is too superficial.

Look at the stage in the Royal Albert Hall sold out 2 times for Lang. It's a real circus.
I watched Lang give his masterclass at the Royal College of Music. As I said, he should have taken the chair of the student, as he watched and watched the hall, smiling, in stead of listening. When I saw Schiffs masterclass. Well, needs no comment.

But the sheer repetition of the standard repertoire of all current concert pianists is a real shame, considering the many composers who lay in the dust, like, Dussek, Henselt, CPE Bach.
Piano International covered them all three.
Boy, what are we missing, with our tenth Beethoven sonata-concert cycles on the shelve, because nobody dares to play something completely different. Hough, Sheely, Pierce Lane, yes, they can. Why shouldn't the others.

For the rest made in China, dressed up unconventionally, and burn them up for the sake and glory of the Chinese Republic. Lang, Leeds competition ambassador, MAD they are in UK. Perhaps he wouldn't even make the final should he participate.
Why, look at Giltburg, established career but still going for the Queen Elisabeth and winning.
That's a genius, even with a blackout in the semis during Mozart.

[chopinfrederic]

With only some young talent competitions won, no world class ones, he and YuYuYuYu get it all.

Yu= Yundi/ Yuja?