KEY POINTS:
The Chinese wunderkind has had Beethoven in his concert repertoire for some time, but finally Lang Lang brings us two of the composer's concertos on CD.
Deutsche Grammophon has provided opulent settings for the C major and G major works, enlisting esteemed partners in the Orchestre de Paris and conductor Christoph Eschenbach.
Eschenbach has been close to the pianist since Lang Lang's American debut in 1999, and states unequivocally that this young man was born to play Beethoven.
On the basis of this recording, few would argue. With lissom passagework and phrasing that combines shapely contour and impish wit, cadenzas are a joy.
This is Beethoven in full Romantic bloom. The C major slow movement is as languorous as a Chopin Nocturne, the G major Andante con moto a series of sighs from Schumann.
Yet there is solid substance. In the later concerto Lang Lang and Eschenbach cut through to both the heart and mind of the first movement.
By contrast, the Finale melds the skittish, when the pianist is leaning on the backbeat, and the poetic, when unexpected details emerge from the orchestral backdrop.
Dragon Songs has Lang Lang tackling favourites from back home, including the cornfed Yellow River Concerto, delivered with wide-eyed gusto by the pianist and the Chinese Philharmonic under Long Yu.
To some ears, this CD will be 64 minutes of chinoiserie, with no fewer than three moonlit riverscapes, one presented in reverberant duet with Ji Wei on the guzheng zither.
He Luting's The Cowherd's Flute is vigorous and linear while another song-dialogue catches the more astringent tones of musicians from Hebei province.
On the more outrageous side, the habanera of Sun Yiqiang's Dance of Spring suggests Carmen is alive and castanetting somewhere in China, while Du Mingxin's Straw Hat Dance has Bartok bumping into Grieg on the banks of the Yangtze.
The tastiest of the lot is Zhao Jiping's Dance from Qiuci, written by the man who scored the movie Farewell My Concubine. With Zhang Jiali on the oboe-like guanzi, it slides from delicate klezmer to what sounds like the Stones' Paint it Black.
* Lang Lang plays Beethoven (Deutsche Grammophon 872 502)
Lang Lang, Dragon Songs (Deutsche Grammophon 4776229)
