The Highest Level: Prokofiev 3 and Bartok 2
The Making of an Extraordinary Recording
Lang Lang (piano)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
Lang Lang has the necessary power and athleticism to bring tremendous energy and drive to [Prokofiev's] more motoric writing...[he] sails through the passagework [of the Bartok] with exemplary...
The Highest Level: Prokofiev 3 and Bartok 2
The Making of an Extraordinary Recording
Lang Lang (piano)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
Purchase product
Lang Lang has the necessary power and athleticism to bring tremendous energy and drive to [Prokofiev's] more motoric writing...[he] sails through the passagework [of the Bartok] with exemplary...
About
Lang Lang's first concerto album on the Sony label unites the world’s greatest International music stars: Lang Lang, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. This highly awaited collaboration resulted in a recording which will mark one of this year's most important core classical releases in the music industry.
Recorded at Berlin's Philharmonie, the album presents two mile stones of the 20th century piano literature: Prokofiev’s explosive Piano Concerto No. 3, (one of the great show stoppers in the concert literature), and the Bartók Concerto Nr. 2, probably the most technically challenging piece ever written for piano and orchestra.
Comes in luxuriously designed photo-loaded deluxe packaging.
An up-close and highly personal TV documentary (Working Title: "At the Highest Level") will accompany the release. The film will give an exclusive insight into processes that are normally hidden: the preparations of the musicians, the recordings at the Philharmonie in Berlin and the struggle to get the best sound, as well as the post-production phase.
Produced by award winning company BFMI (Bernhard Fleischer Moving Images) and directed by Christian Berger the 60” TV documentary “The Highest Level” gives an exclusive insight into processes that are normally hidden: the preparations of the musicians, the recordings at the Philharmonie in Berlin and the struggle to get the best sound, as well as the post-production phase. The viewer gets unusually close to the stars of the film.
Bluray/DVD
60” TV documentary “The Highest Level”
Complete run-through of the Prokofiev Concerto 3
Contents and tracklist
- full performance, filmed at the recording sessions in the Berlin Philharmonie
- Lang Lang (piano)
- Berliner Philharmoniker
- Sir Simon Rattle
Awards and reviews
December 2013
Lang Lang has the necessary power and athleticism to bring tremendous energy and drive to [Prokofiev's] more motoric writing...[he] sails through the passagework [of the Bartok] with exemplary clarity...The problem in the outer movements rests with the pianist's tendency to make everything sound harsh and percussive
November 2013
Lang Lang gives a persuasive account of the Prokofiev. His finely observed detail..., the full use of the piano's sumptuous sonority and dynamic range and his effortless technical mastery would excite anyone's admiration...[in the Bartok] Lang Lang and Rattle are hugely impressive but, for my taste, a shade too polite.
8th November 2013
Immediately [the Prokofiev] explodes into life with Lang Lang’s sparkling playing with seemingly boundless reserves of energy...Outstanding in the opening [of the Bartók] is Lang Lang’s rhythmic potency borders on the demonic...Under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle the Berliner Philharmoniker is highly persuasive and sympathetic. Not for the first time the woodwind excel - marvellous.
1st November 2013
this is a performance [of the Prokofiev] that glides by, impeccably beautiful and fleet, yet a trifle short of character. Still, Lang Lang’s easy virtuosity is delicious; so is the absence of keyboard thumping...[the Bartok] offers genuine bite, whether from Lang Lang’s fingers or the bracing snarl of the Berlin brass.
The Independent on Sunday 20th October 2013
Superloud and racily paced...It all gives a whole new meaning to the words “Flash, bang, wallop”, but it’s difficult to resist the energy, brio and sheer unabashed showmanship of the whole package.
How smart of Sony to have recorded [Lang Lang] in repertoire which plays to his strengths. This Prokofiev 3 is exceptionally good – thunderous when it needs to be, and always rhythmically alert. And Simon Rattle is a supremely effective partner.
