Wow! Hancock and Lang Shake Up Ravinia Festival

The musical purists may have been scandalized, but what happened at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park on Tuesday night wasn't designed for the faint of heart.

Instead, two celebrated pianists thumbed their noses at the unwritten rules of American concert life and played what they wanted to play, the way they wanted to play it.

That meant jazz pianist Herbie Hancock plunged headfirst into demanding 20th Century classical repertoire, and classical pianist Lang Lang improvised loosely, as a jazz pianist might do. The musical results showed minor flaws, but that's what happens when major artists take significant risks.