Lang Lang isn't a pianist to suit all tastes.
I suppose no musician is, but in any case, there were a few times when he didn't suit mine last week.
The 30-year-old Chinese virtuoso made a single stop in Costa Mesa on Sept. 27. He played with the Pacific Symphony in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. As conductor Carl St.Clair noted, he took on not one, but two concertos.
Impressive indeed, no matter how you square it.
But the manner in which this superstar — a superstar by classical world standards, that is — played Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, the lauded "Emperor," surely got those of us thinking who are used to these pieces (especially the Beethoven) being played a certain way.
Like any good artist, Lang makes the pieces his own — his own being, more often than not, lightning fast and aggressive. And that's a lot fun to hear sometimes.