Habits are hard to break. That’s one reason why people still ask “How are you?” during a world-emerging pandemic. A similar reflexive “Fine” often follows why it was so funny when pianist Lang Lang responded in a recent interview with a wince and shouted, “It’s awful!”
This is a difficult time for everyone in classical music, as personal performances worldwide have only stopped. Mr. Lang, one of the biggest stars and money makers in the sector, is relatively safe from financial destruction. But being sidelined by forces beyond his control is painfully familiar to him. He injured his left arm in 2017, and the recovery put him out of commission for more than a year.
“I’ve been around for a while,” Mr Lang, 38, said of Zoom from his Shanghai home. “This time I’m so ready, but I can not play a concert. That is much more frustrating. ”
Mr. Lang’s return from his injury has been incremental, starting with less muscular fare than the Romantic warhorses that made him famous, and then rebuilding after those thunderous concerts – while also venturing into new repertoire. This year was meant to focus on a big project for him: a tour of Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations and a recording of the work on Deutsche Grammophon, next month.
He made it three stops in the tour, all in Germany, before the rest was canceled. But before he left, he made a studio recording of the ‘Goldbergs’ in Berlin and a live one at St. Thomas’ Church in Leipzig, where Bach worked.
Both versions will be on the upcoming release. That was not always the plan, Mr Lang said, but he pushed to record the live performance after listening to it and found that he appreciated the spontaneity and ‘driving’ nature. However, he added, he prefers the studio recording, which he finds shows more depth.
A few works elicit more varied interpretations than the “Goldbergs.” Performers bring personal touches to repertoire staples such as concertos by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, but in balance, these works have a consistent run time and a generally agreed sound. But Bach’s set of 30 variations, surrounded by two iterations of an Aria of simple music box, is written with such sobriety that it is something of a blank canvas. There is no rulebook for ornament; purely absent tempo markings mean that it can take less than an hour if, in Mr Lang’s reading, more than 90 minutes. It can be heard on piano cymbals like modern pianos, or even transcribed for other instruments.
Despite being a favorite of audiences, Mr. Lang has long left critics thinking about his unintentional skill and his dubious taste, his expressiveness and his way of making pop stars. And he will redistribute listeners with his “Goldbergs.” Baroque specialists can be particularly angry at his sometimes counter-intuitive voice, with unconventional emphasis on certain notes and phrases, and his rubato – rhythmic manipulation that sometimes sends the meter to unrecognizability. The slow 25th variation, which typically lasts six or seven minutes, is stretched above 10 here; The studio version of Mr. Long of the concluding aria is nearly six and a half minutes long, while most pianists remain pitiful for four.
But despite what people think about Mr. Lang’s interpretation, they cannot dismiss it as unintentional. It has felt deep and two decades in the making.
Like all piano students, Mr. Lang played many Bachs as a child, from the easy minutes to the encyclopedia “Well-tempered Clavier.” He used quick sections of the ‘Goldbergs’ for rehearsals, but did not carry out the work in his entirety until, after arriving at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago in 1999, he recounted it in memory in the middle of the night for some fellow musicians.
Mr. Lang said he did not want to openly share his “Goldbergs” until the moment felt right. In his mid – 20s, he played the work for conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt during an informal audition for the Salzburg Festival. He reminds Harnoncourt, saying, ‘You play Bach without imagination,’ and urges him to play with fewer reservations and more lyrical melodic lines.
“He started singing the theme of Variation 3, and I was, wow, can Bach be playing this Romance?” Mr. Lang said. “I was overwhelmed by his emotions.”
Mr. Lang has since sought advice from other artists, including German pianist and harpsichordist Andreas Staier, who taught him the importance of approaching the “Goldbergs” with scientific rigor. Learning the piece, Mr. Lang said, has improved his understanding of composition and music himself.
“It takes you to another level of thinking,” he said.
With his copy of the score in hand, Mr. Lang discussed what he had learned about the ‘Goldbergs’, and how he came to his interpretation. Here are edited excerpts from the interview.
Your career was made with romantic concertos, but lately you have been working backwards in time, now to the baroque. Does this style come to you, of course?
It does, but I have played it much less than the romantic or classical repertoire. And Bach is another planet. When I met Andreas [Staier]to, he told me that this piece must have a real knowledge behind the strategy. You can not think of this as a piece like 10 minutes or a 30 minute concert. You need to keep your cards in your hands and not throw your cards at the same time. He said I had to learn every variation with a kind of calm temperament, and not get overwhelmed on Variation 1.
What led to your interpretation?
This is a whole piece, but at the same time they are separate pieces. That way, each variation has to have a calculated way of playing. You can not play everything the same way.
I feel like you are the most personal in the rubato and ornament. These can be difficult to balance, and Baroque rules can be very special. How did you find what works for you?
With rubato it is the theory of the roots of the tree and the leaves up. In this case, the left hand is not always rooted in Bach’s music. In the Aria it is, but in other variations it is perhaps the middle voice. But you must always find where the roots are, and those must be stable. Then the melodic line may be a little different. I realized I was doing some of my studio recording, sometimes I gave a lot of rubato and had to come back because then it could very easily fall apart. You may hear you lose your heart rate.
You play as little decoration as possible the first time through. [Each section of the “Goldbergs” is divided into two parts that are both repeated.] Then you can do on the repetition ornament to give it a slightly improvisational style. When it sounds like everything is planned, the ornament loses its true meaning. Sometimes you can even add a few chords here and there to make it a little more colorful. In the French overture, Variation 16, I try to make it more like an organ piece, so I add a little more lower voice. But we must be careful not to have any foreign ornament that sounds like Messiahs or something like that. Some of my ornaments were corrected by baroque musicians.
Let’s talk about some specific sections. The Aria is a perfect example of how the “Goldbergs” can be played in different ways.
I intended to play a bit slower than other musicians, especially in the studio. It gives me a rest, some more space. But it must of course be legate. If I can really connect each note, then I can play slower, because it gives me a basic feel.
And Variation 7, the giant, is a place where you seem to really disconnect.
Before repeating, I played the chords, the sixth and third, under the main voice. This is what I learned from the baroque way of playing. They often add lower sixths and lower thirds to make it sound like a bell. There are more notes, but actually a lighter feel. This is the character of the piece. It has to blow.
The 26th variation seems to be one of the most difficult. You have to decide if you want to emphasize these effervescent runes as the dancing melody.
I always played this as an exercise as a kid. This is perhaps the most difficult variation, technically. You can actually play with it every time, with a different priority – sometimes more on the left hand, or more on the right hand. But if you do, you’d better stick to your choice of two beams, rather than four. Do not switch too hard.
For an open section like this, do you consult with older recordings as artists?
Especially on this one I got an enormous inspiration from Glenn Gould. He is someone who is not afraid to play fast passages really fast. I think it’s the reason people like its “Goldberg” variants It has such an inspiring character. He gave me the confidence that some parts can be very exciting; you can just leave it at that.
What does the return of the Aria at the end mean to you?
Variation 30 is the most important connection for me. It is a combination of three popular songs, German folk songs. I copied the lyrics, and the third one is about home. This caused a great transition to the Aria. And without this variation, I think the Aria would be so much harder to play, after that fireworks: After the Adagio, Variation 25, you have four variations that are fast and virtuoso. It’s just impossible to go back to the Aria. But when you have this family reunion in your 30s, you suddenly realize that you are getting older.
The truth is, we do not have to think too much this second time to play the Aria. It is already different, automatically, no matter what you do. After certain things you have changed. You do not have to say it; you just are.
