Review Roundup: Lang Lang, Chick Corea, and Maxim Lando Perform Rhapsody In Blue at Carnegie Hall

From carnegiehall.org: On October 4, jazz icon Chick Corea joined Lang Lang-assisted by his dynamic protégé, 14-year-old Maxim Lando-for a rarely heard two-piano version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue performed between the three pianists and The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick-Nézet-Séguin.

Lang Lang, who is recovering from tendonitis in his left hand, enlisted Lando, a graduate of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation's Young Scholars Program, to be his "left hand man" during the performance, rather than canceling his appearance altogether.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times: Instead, on Wednesday at Carnegie Mr. Corea mostly mixed it up with Mr. Lang and his protégé. Whenever Mr. Lang added short, cutesy runs to the piano part, Mr. Corea responded with his own playful squiggles, making Gershwin's crisp, fleet piano part sound flashy and slick. From what I could tell Mr. Lando boasts technical skill and exuberance and gamely did his part, though he seems in danger of adopting his mentor's exaggerated hand gestures.

Joshua Rosenblum, Zeal NYC: This worked shockingly well. In fact, the three pianists-Lang, Corea, and young Mr. Lando-gave a performance of the Rhapsody for the ages... For style and approach, the whole thing (not just Corea's solos) seemed spontaneous and improvisatory, with phrases sometimes tantalizingly stretched nearly to the breaking point, and the give-and-take among all three pianists so palpable that it seemed they were creating the piece from scratch before your eyes. At one point, when Lang and Corea traded a particular riff, Lang played it with a swing rhythm, and Corea responded by playing it straight-a terrific inside joke.

Photo: zealnyc.com/Chris Lee

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