Outside of the hype-factor by the journalist, the artist himself seems to have some interesting ideas about music, especially music and literature, sort of similar to what some of you say about playing jazz with feeling. I don't know much about him, though.
classical crowd-pleaser
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...8419434.htm?1c
Lang Lang is just about the hottest classical musician in the world right now, recently performing on Jay Leno's `Tonight Show'' and selling out Carnegie Hall in a flash. The 21-year-old pianist, a superstar from Shenyang, China, is also about the most controversial, held up as the savior of classical music by his fans and record company, Deutsche Grammophon, and blasted by some critics as a showboat, the Liberace of the smart set.
Why such praise and damnation? His gee-whiz enthusiasm, theatrical gesturing and go-for-broke performances add up to ego-laden flamboyance or emotional profundity, depending on where you sit. More like him than don't: Lang Lang's two CDs released in the past year have sold more than 80,000 copies. The next bestselling classical pianist is Glenn Gould, dead for more than 20 years.
On Saturday, Lang Lang performs at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre and, on Sunday, at Villa Montalvo's intimate Carriage House Theater in Saratoga. (Both shows are sold out). I spoke by phone with the pianist, who lives in Philadelphia, where he attended the prestigious Curtis Institute. His mentors are famous ones: pianist Gary Graffman, Curtis's president, and conductors Daniel Barenboim and Christoph Eschenbach. But Lang Lang also cites the influence of two others: his mother, Xiulan Zhou, who exposed him to classical music in utero; and father, Guo-ren Lang, a virtuoso on the erhu, the Chinese two-string fiddle, who still performs traditional Chinese music with his son.
Q Tell me about the crowded apartment house you lived in as a boy in China. It was filled with music?
A Yes, you cannot hide anything, the walls are so thin. My father used to be the concert master of a Chinese orchestra, so all of his friends and colleagues lived there in this big building. You'd hear the Chinese instruments and the Western instruments, and they also had the actors and singers from opera -- the Peking Operas. And you'd hear cartoon music -- it was a big mix! Disaster! I wouldn't live there again. My mind would explode!
Q What music did you listen to as a boy?
A I just loved to listen to music, to Chinese music and Western music. The thing that made me a pianist is the joy that music gave to me. And you want to share that with other people.
Q Is that your mission as a musician?
A I like to bring music to everyone, not only to the classical music circle, but to a lot of young people in every country. So that's why I'm traveling everywhere to perform.
Q Who are your favorite composers?
A I love Mozart and Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Basically, I like composers from Bach to contemporary. If it's good music, I just love to play it.
Q What does it feel like to be so successful at 21?
A You're really happy and very grateful. But to have a successful career, you have to work hard to keep it. Every concert, I try to change the repertoire. I like to do new stuff, and that keeps my energy running.
But at the same time, you have to work quite a long time to sort things out and to know how to play a work, and what sort of performing style you need, and what kind of book you need to read before you play this work. I think I sometimes think more at this point than I practice on the keyboard. I used to play and not think. Now I think more than I play.
Q You read books before you perform? Which ones?
A Shakespeare and Hugo and also some Chinese poetry.
Q What's the relationship between the books and the music?
A Every book is related to music, because music is telling stories. Every note is like a word. And Shakespeare is very dramatic, and many composers get inspiration from him -- that's why they wrote operas and concertos. So in order to play those wonderful works, you need to know the structure of the literature.
Shakespeare is a dialogue between different characters; music is actually the same thing. You have a long phrase and a short phrase, and it's a dialogue between them. Poetic stuff!
Q How do you feel about the criticism you've been receiving? Some of it seems mean.
A I discussed this with my teacher, Gary Graffman, and also with my great mentors, Daniel Barenboim and Christoph Eschenbach. And they said now I'm in the spotlight, and people will criticize me, no matter what. They said, ``If you think some of their suggestions are right, listen to it. If you think it's not right, make it as if you never read those things.''
Q Well, is any of it right? Have you made any changes?
A Not really. They criticize me for playing on a television show. I don't think I'm wrong to do that. We need to play classical music on the mainstream television.
Q Did you enjoy being on Jay Leno?
A Yes. Cool, very cool. That was really, really, really fun.
Q What popular music do you listen to?
A Norah Jones. I think she has the very good taste, and she's not only a pop musician but a good musician.
Q You've spoken about seeing a television retrospective of Vladimir Horowitz playing the piano when you were 3. What do you remember?
A It was quite fascinating, seeing this great man. I thought that to be a pianist is, like, really cool stuff. It's like some young people now seeing a pop star and saying, ``Ooh, I want to be like that.'' Same thing.
Q Do many young people enjoy your concerts?
A Yes. They come to my concerts and they just really like it, and they follow the classical music. They like it because I like what I'm doing, and I think if you really like what you do, other people will feel that.
Lang Lang
Where: Herbst Theatre, War Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Ave. , San Francisco
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: Sold out; waiting list for any ticket returns, (415) 398-6449
Also: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Carriage House Theater, Villa Montalvo, 15400 Montalvo Road, Saratoga, $45-$55 (sold out), (408) 961-5858, (408) 998-8497, (415) 421-8497
On disc
Lang Lang Live at Carnegie Hall: (Deutsche Grammophon) -- Two-disc recording of last November's sold-out recital, the subject of much critical sniping and praise.
Tchaikovsky/Mendelssohn: First Piano Concertos: (Deutsche Grammophon) -- This glitzy and beautiful recording of a pair of warhorses pairs the pianist with one of his mentors, conductor Daniel Barenboim, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3, Scriabin Etudes: (Telarc) -- More finger power on this 2002 disc. It's another live recording, this time with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, conducted by Yuri Temirkanov.
-- Richard Scheinin
Linear Mode
