PIANIST CAN'T QUITE LIVE UP TO HIS OWN HYPE.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

For those who missed the hype, Lang Lang is a young Chinese pianist, not a panda. But he might as well have been a dancing bear for all the cheap showmanship he displayed Saturday night at UCLA's Schoenberg Hall.

Though only 18, Lang seems to have mastered the fine art of style over substance, to judge by this recital. In an adventurous and wide-ranging program of Handel, Scriabin, Tchaikovsky and Balakirev, the pianist put himself before the music at every opportunity. To be sure, Lang has technique to spare, but move beyond the flash of thundering octaves or perfectly executed glissandos, and, well, there's no there there.

In Handel's Suite No. 5 in E, best known for its ``Harmonious Blacksmith'' finale, Lang moved along slickly but with little real refinement. His playing lacked variety, and the oddly self-satisfied mien he affected was not only unwarranted but also downright off-putting.

Chopin's Third Sonata emerged as a series of disconnected fits and starts. All four movements lacked essential color, the pianist instead substituting a generic sugary feel. Indeed, only Lang's distracting facial expressions revealed what he intended in the music: here reverie, here melancholy. And when Lang did attempt depth, he was mostly dull. Certainly his tone was not especially rich or supple.

The 10 Scriabin etudes Lang selected should have been a program highlight, so rarely are they heard in recital these days. But even here, Lang's playing lacked personality. The pieces sounded like nothing more than a stream of well-articulated notes spun out with authority but little purpose.

Two short Tchaikovsky works - ``Dumka'' and the ``Nocturne in C sharp minor'' - might have been real charmers in another pianist's hands. In Lang's, they were glassy and unengaging.

Only Balakirev's Oriental fantasy ``Islamey'' was well-served by Lang's skill. Here was his ideal vehicle, a rollicking work in which digital pyrotechnics are everything. In it, Lang was fleet, assured and muscular.