REVIEW

Pianist shows vigorous
sense of rhythm

'Russian Masters With Lang Lang' Halekulani MasterWorks series featuring the Honolulu Symphony and Samuel Wong, conductor. When: 4 p.m. today. Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall Tickets: $21, $33, $43, $51 and $64; 20 percent discount available to seniors, students, military. Call: 792-2000 or Ticketmaster at (877) 750-4400.

The biggest buzz in the classical music world these days is about 22-year-old Chinese pianist Lang Lang, whose brilliant playing and charismatic personality have won accolades around the world. Friday evening marked his debut with the Honolulu Symphony in a dazzling performance of Prokofiev's "Third Concerto."

The concert opened with a spirited performance of selections from Tchaikovsky's familiar "Swan Lake." The work offered lush Romantic textures for the full orchestra, along with extensive solo opportunities for oboist Scott Janusch, violinist Ignace Jang, cellist Mark Votapek and harpist Constance Uejio.

Anticipation mounted as the hydraulic lift brought the grand piano to stage level, and when Lang Lang walked briskly on stage he was greeted by a roar of approval before playing a note.

As clarinetist James Moffitt played the opening notes of the concerto, the pianist was already swaying rhythmically in anticipation of his vigorous, syncopated entrance. Throughout the work he remained rhythmically involved, beating time when he was not playing, and engaging in "whole-body rhythms" when he was. His sense of rhythm was perhaps the most striking aspect of his performance of this piece that features so many abrupt tempo changes and extended motoric passages.

Among the many technical difficulties of this work, the most obvious are the numerous leaps. These are notoriously treacherous for pianists, who must lose contact with their instrument in order to move from one position to another in a split second. Lang Lang showed no fear of the leaps, and in fact he appeared to revel in the athleticism required to execute them with deadly accuracy.

Prokofiev's music is characterized by an almost schizophrenic alternation of moods, and Lang Lang led the orchestra effectively from humor to sarcasm to lyricism.

Despite the work's difficulties, he spent much of his time looking away from the keyboard, making eye contact with conductor Samuel Wong and the players.

After the triple fortissimo conclusion to the last movement, the audience roared again, this time accompanied by a standing ovation.

Lang Lang treated the audience to an encore that was as different as possible from the brittle, motoric Prokofiev. His performance of Liszt's popular "Liebestraum No. 3" was rhythmically supple, offering a tonal and expressive palette that ranged from the utmost delicacy to Romantic thunder.

The second half of the concert was devoted to Stravinsky's "Petrushka," which suffered in comparison with the Prokofiev. The orchestra did not seem as comfortable with this work and was seldom able to achieve the nimbleness necessary to convey the capricious humor of the puppets. An extensive and prominent piano part was played by Thomas Yee, who was not listed in the program.

A minor annoyance was the high-pitched whine emanating from the ventilation system during the entire concert. Recent work on the air-conditioning system may have been the culprit.