Changing the world – that’s the ambitious goal of Chinese pianist Lang Lang. This portrait of the famous musician shows how he uses music to realize it. Lang Lang employs music with masterful ease, unstinting dedication and – Lang Lang's key point – open and caring communication. Accordingly, Lang Lang, who is considered a megastar of classical music, has no qualms about giving us a piano lesson. He teaches us about the crucial importance of right imagination for generating the desired sound and of inner calm for performing a musical piece well.
Lang Lang not only sees himself as a mediator between Chinese and western cultures, but he has also made it his mission to introduce students to classical music – for example, with Camille Saint-Saëns' programmatic orchestral suite Carnival of the Animals. Lang Lang also reveals that he could imagine becoming a composer in the future.
In this video, we see Lang Lang as a musician who is completely absorbed in the things important to him, a sincere and down-to-earth artist who explains classical music without any academic trappings. Whether you are a fan of classical music or a newcomer, it is hard to resist the charisma of this versatile virtuoso.
At a glance:
00:00 Concert excerpt: Camille Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22, I. Andante sostenuto: Cadenza - Lang Lang (piano), Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons (Conductor)
00:25 Lang Lang on how to become a superstar and what distinguishes them
01:01 How he feels when schoolchildren cheer him on
01:35 What characterizes his piano playing
02:00 How to play a beautiful melody
02:56 How to create a big sound
03:35 How to create a sad sound
04:17 It's always about the heart, too
05:07 Concert excerpt: Camille Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22, I. Andante sostenuto: Cadenza - Lang Lang (piano), Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons (Conductor)
05:30 Lang Lang is happy to have known early on what he loves to do and is good at doing
05:38 Music excerpt: Johann Sebastian Bach, Goldberg Variations, Aria - Lang Lang (piano)
05:58 What inspires Lang Lang these days
06:12 How music has changed him and how he wants to pass on the gift
06:25 Concert excerpt: Alan Menken, Beauty and the Beast - Lang Lang (piano), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
06:50 Lang Lang on his two musical roots - Chinese music and Western classical music
07:38 Music excerpt: Johann Sebastian Bach, Goldberg Variations, Aria - Lang Lang (piano)
07:50 How Lang Lang benefits from the two cultures
09:20 Concert excerpt: Camille Saint-Saëns, Carnival of the Animals, I. Introduction and Royal March of the Lion - Lang Lang, Gina Alice (pianos), Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons (conductor)
09:39 Lang Lang on the evocative language of music in Carnival of the Animals
09:48 Even his two-year-old son understood the musical depiction of the elephant
10:14 How the music for “Aquarium” says everything, how everyone understands it; the same goes for “Swan”...
10:42 Carnival of the Animals as an ideal tool for teaching children
10:52 Concert excerpt: Camille Saint-Saëns, Carnival of the Animals, XII. Fossils - Lang Lang, Gina Alice (pianos), Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons (conductor)
11:07 How Lang Lang wants to bring classical music back to schools with his International Music Foundation
11:55 Concert excerpt: Germaine Tailleferre, Valse Lente - Lang Lang (piano)
12:18 Lang Lang could imagine a future as a composer
13:08 Concert excerpt: Germaine Tailleferre, Valse Lente - Lang Lang (piano)
13:23 Credits
Report by Gero Schliess
© Deutsche Welle 2024
Watch more portraits of classical musicians:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBUGCdoVYLjdUZa_L1OU6tMD
Watch more music documentaries: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PL_SdnzPd3eBUu43Xaa5AYyL7MruoJ42WD
Listen to piano concertos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBU7k2TJgrgNCc9aygnNkaGZ
Subscribe to DW Classical Music:
https://www.youtube.com/dwclassicalmusic
#langlang #pianist #pianoplayer