Conclusion

In all, I felt that Lang Lang’s playing in my opinion was the best. I felt that anyone could also play according to the score, and by doing that one is perceived to be doing the right thing. Lang Lang as everyone knows is notorious for his stage pressence when performing as he would always display and conduct himself in a way that some might feel that he has violated traditional concert ettiques and his performance is always not conventional as a classical pianist. However, I beg to differ as Lang Lang is one that truly is a musician. That is because he has really gotten the Lisztian spirit of exploring new ways in making music. Liszt innovated the symphonic poems in the Romantic period. Now Lang Lang has also tried new ways to play Liszt’s very own composition. I felt he didn’t do anything that was too much exaggerated, but more of adding his own interpretations in respective areas (not the entire composition). This is his way of doing it and I believe I hold great respect to his concept as a musician and a classical pianist. I couldn’t imagine if everyone were to play the same way as it was written in scores like good students, everything would sound too academic and too conventional, and after some time, it turns boring. I wouldn’t think that Liszt would love that to happen, he would love to see his composition being played over and over again and be appreciated by the people who listened to it for as long as it takes. There comes a time that someone has to break all these conventions like how Beethoven has done in the Classical period, and that someone is Lang Lang. He has successfully introduced a new innovative way of interpreting Liszt’s work and has made it all interesting and new to the audience again. I would very much love to see him play as I wouldn’t know what he would do next on stage when he’s performing. With that I hence chose Lang Lang as my favourite and probably the best recording amongst the other 5 recordings.