Filmed live in Vienna s legendary Musikverein concert hall, this release represents Lang Lang s second live recorded recital to date after the best-selling Live at Carnegie Hall in 2004, which marked his international breakthrough as a recording artist. The program for his Sony debut features Lang Lang s first-ever recording of Beethoven sonatas: The famous Appassionata , a milestone in the piano literature, is paired with the composer s youthful C major Sonata op. 2, no. 3. Virtuosity of a different order is displayed in Albéniz s impressionistic memories of his native Spain in Book 1 of Iberia. The program closes with one of Prokofiev s explosive War Sonatas, the revolutionary Seventh Sonata. Finally, to celebrate the Chopin Bicentennial we hear three encores of this Polish genius s most popular works: the Aeolian Harp Etude, the Heroic Polonaise in A flat major, and the sparkling Grande Valse Brillante No. 2.
