Prokofiev 3, Bartok 2Sony ClassicalThis album comes strongly recommended. On the rear cover, Sir Simon Rattle declares: ‘I don’t know when I’ve ever heard a pianist who is able to be more uncannily accurate in the Bartók concerto and then still have the ability to make it dance.’Lang Lang adds: ‘I really think these concertos have a musical relevance that’s absolutely right for our times.’ The booklet note is written by the Editor-in-Chief of Gramophone magazine and the sleeve shows the two artists in expressions of ecstasy.The music is another matter. The Prokofiev third concerto is opened by a delicious clarinet solo that is picked up by the rest of the orchestra. Lang Lang bursts into the conversation like a man who’s late for a flight, all haste and not much feel for the atmosphere. There are some wild moments in the andantino, but the finale reverts to non-communication, the orchestra going one way, the pianist the other. The result is not so much disturbing as insipid: a breezy misreading of one of the most scalp-tingling concertos on record. Try Argerich, Ashkenazy, Kissin, or the composer himself, and you’ll hear what’s missing.In the Bartók second concerto, Lang Lang admits admiration for a 1960 Berlin recording by Geza Anda and Ferenc Fricsay. This interpretation, however, bears no resemblance to that sovereign landmark. Here, the music is driven by agitation, its wistful accents mashed into robotic motion. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra sound magnificent, earning the production its second critical star.___Norman Lebrecht is a regular presenter on BBC Radio 3 and a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and other publications. He has written 12 books about music, the most recent being Why Mahler? He hosts the blog Slipped Disc.
