What is happening to the Chinese crusaders ??

[camille101]

Seriously, does a DG contract automatically raise publicity while reducing musicianship? 

Lang Lang's recitals from the early 00's suggested a dazzling yet poetic artist who instead turned into a product of the DG 'meat-grinder'.  Nothing much can be said except I regret that there are only a few (and they DO exist) recordings of his I can listen to pleased with the result of late.  His new Chopin album hasn't really convinced me yet but it is a whole lot better than earlier recordings.
Pretty, petite Yuja is dishing out Rach 3's left, right and centre as if she's built like Schwarzenegger at the expense of the expressive artistry we heard in the Sonatas and Etudes album (and probably her physical strength, too).  I was deeply unimpressed by the fact that, though she wished to record Prokofiev on her next CD, DG instead decides to make her record an album of encores, reaffirming the stereotype that she is all 'flying fingers' and little else.  The recital of hers I attended with the Brahms fantasies op 116 would suggest otherwise.
And Yundi has taken the biggest fall of all!  DG ditched our prince for LL and he received highly negative reviews for that Tchaikovsky concerto, had to move to the flailing EMI Classics record and only recently returned to DG to give the standard Beethoven sonatas (Pathetique, Moonlight, Appassionata) on his next CD.  It is such a shame to watch him at the 2000 Chopin Competition and compare him to now. 

There is no doubt that these heavyweights of Chinese classical music have incredible talent and potential.  There are some very beautiful moments in Lang Lang's Liszt.  Yuja can give a warm, glowing tone like musical gold that I experienced first-hand in the Brahms Op. 116/4.  And the Prince shows himself behind Yundi's somewhat damaged musical portrait in the exquisite Chinese pieces he frequently uses as encores and his Chopin, when it's at its best. 

We can only hope that they take much needed time off these holidays and arrive in 2013 with fresher interpretations, at the same time older and younger in their approaches.  Thoughts?

[iansinclair]

Can't speak for the Chinese crusaders as you call them -- I don't, generally, listen to piano recordings, oddly enough!  But the problem is much more general than you seem to imply, and it isn't just DG that has the problem.  I see the same thing in the world of grand opera.  The conflict is between trying to sell recordings and trying to be an artist; the recording companies need to make some money (and generally the artists don't mind making a little, either) -- and the culture to whom they are selling doesn't have the training or interest to appreciate real artistry, never having been exposed to any.

And no, I don't have any solutions...

[richard black]

It's hardly a new phenomenon. 'Brilliant young pianists' get snapped up and in no time are playing more repertoire in more concerts than is musically healthy. Some survive this and mature into real artists, some don't. It happened to Paderewski (who survived, of course!) and he even wrote about it in his memoirs. Busoni had a solution to it, which was that the bright young things should be allowed to get out there and create a stir and, yes, maybe play some unsuitable repertoire - and then they should retire from public life for a year or three and learn something more than just the notes. But he too recognised the commercial difficulties of coming back to the public notice after such a move and, then as now, no public notice, no bread on the table.