A Master of the Piano Whose Performances Receive No Applause

     Lang Lang is incredible. It is difficult to find any finer pianists in the world; the only people that come to mind are Jordan Rudess and maybe Herbie Hancock. I thought this presented some interesting views. It goes to show, especially with pianos, that your sound is directly dependent on other people. Lang asks his piano technician, Stefan Knüpfer, to provide an incredible tone that will make his listeners interested and pleased. I find this ironic because he just tells Knüpfer what to do. I would expect such a prestigious musician to develop his sound himself because I am a sax player, and us saxes need to make our own tone. Lang has no control over who he is as a musician texture-wise, and that is something that really bugs me. I've worked so hard to develop an expressive tone, and he just tells his technician what to do.
     Dargis is a little hard to follow. I found myself drifting mentally because the timeline was a bit whacky. I didn't understand the whole concept of the movie; it was not conveyed clearly enough. I felt the point of the article would be lost in translation to anyone who is a non-musician, and even still, I didn't get it the first time. I'm miserable at sight-reading music, but I'm pretty sure I'm good at it in English. Manohla Dargis, I would make the article more concise because your readers will tune out your words. Also, nothing was really said other than presenting this film. I think the author could've given Mr. Knüpfer more credit for his work; he was made to seem like nothing too special. Overall, I will be staying away from Dargis in the future unless he writes more about music.


Article by Manohla Dargis.