Lang Lang review – Bach’s Goldbergs are smothered with love

Barbican, London
This was a performance full of idiosyncrasies, of which some brought unexpected delights, but others felt perverse and mannered

Lang Lang comes as a package deal. Even after a lay-off due to an arm problem he still has his wondrous piano technique. He always offers himself as a wholly serious musician. He is certainly an important one – an inspiration to millions. But he is also one of the most mannered maulers of the repertoire you are ever likely to encounter.

This Barbican recital showcased all of it. No pianist playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations – they were prefaced by Schumann’s Op 18 Arabesque – is trying to take the public’s money for old rope. One or two tiptoed exits during the Goldbergs suggested some were not getting what they had expected. Be clear, too, that there were moments of dazzlingly appropriate Bach playing, as in the lightning fast skips and shadings of the 14th variation, where Lang’s quicksilver touch was a delight.

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