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China's star pianist Lang Lang plays for change
China's flamboyant pianist Lang Lang said his performance at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics was a message -- China is changing.
The 26-year-old spiky-haired pianist has captivated audiences around the world by combining his classical repertoire and pop-culture showmanship, making him a national hero alongside sport stars such as basketballer Yao Ming and hurdler Liu Xiang.
Lang, whose designer jackets have prompted some to call him the "Chinese Liberace," now lives in New York, but he said he still kept close ties to his native country and returns often.
Meet China's Lang Lang: Olympian piano man
Critics adore him, and his spiked hair and boyish charm make girls squeal. He even has his very own Adidas shoe.
No, he's not in a boy band, nor is he famed for dunking a ball. Lang Lang is a 26-year-old classical pianist who tickles both ivories and eardrums with formidable skill.
Audiences worldwide should be able to catch a glimpse of his talent next week at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where he is widely expected to take the stage at the opening ceremonies. The performance there would cap off a string of gigs that includes shows in Hamburg with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and in Central Park with the New York Philharmonic.
The Olympian: How China's greatest musician will win the Beijing Games.
By David Remnick, New York Times
Few citizens of the People’s Republic stand to benefit more from this summer’s Olympic Games, in Beijing, than a young man from the Manchurian city of Shenyang named Lang Lang. The son of a vice cop and a telephone operator, Lang Lang is no athlete—he is as sedentary as a veal calf in a dark shed—but he has prepared for the Games with the intensity of a middle-distance runner and the ecstatic anticipation of a groom. Unless Yao Ming, of the Houston Rockets, leads the Chinese past Kobe Bryant and the Americans to a gold medal, it is Lang Lang, a gifted pianist prone to red silk tuxedos and Lisztian histrionics at the keyboard, who is likeliest to emerge as the Chinese performer most enriched by the Olympics.
Lang Lang, whose everyday outfit is a black T-shirt, a silvery Versace jacket, jeans, and sneakers of his own design, will be a ubiquitous Olympic presence. He has already performed in Tiananmen Square to celebrate the one-year countdown to the Beijing Games, and the talk around the capital is that he will be a focal point of the opening ceremonies. (The program is a closely held secret. But, if Lang does play, one can assume that his costume will tend toward the Elton John circa “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” end of the sartorial spectrum.) He will attend several high-profile events in the role of international celebrity, and, because he is both engaging and a fluent English speaker, he’ll be put to work by the “Today” show. Bookstores will feature his new, as-told-to autobiography, “Journey of a Thousand Miles,” and record stores will display his recordings of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin, along with his best-selling album, “Dragon Songs,” a compilation of new and traditional Chinese music. Theatres will soon screen “Lang Lang’s Song for 2008,” an adoring documentary about his life. Perhaps the swiftest way to encapsulate his Olympian presence is to point out that one of the official pandas of the Beijing Games has been named after him.
Read the whole article here.
Lang Lang shows serious artistry in performance with CSO
The international piano phenom Lang Lang was all of 17 when he caught the world's attention as a last-minute stand-in for Andre Watts at Ravinia's centennial concert in 1999. Though he is just 26 now, he has had several lifetimes of experience in the intervening eight years: Regular performances in every music capital, awards, riches, films, a new autobiography (presumably the first of several) -- even his own black and gold Adidas sneakers.
But those who would write him off as a globalist Liberace or classical rock star miss the seriousness that is mixed in with the glamor, the artistry that can cut through the hype. Sunday evening at Ravinia with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Chinese-born pianist played both the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto, Op. 18, and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" (an announced Chopin work was dropped without explanation) in performances that demonstrated the complexity of this audience conqueror.
Read the rest of this article here.
When Only Greatness Will Do - Reader's Digest.com
I think of great books as having a distinct, urgent voice. Their narratives pull you along insistently, convincingly, as if nothing else in the world mattered while you're reading them. They're beautifully written, weave great stories, and open a window on a world you may not have looked through before.
You know what I mean... If you're reading this blog, good money says you can name at least a handful of books that have done that for you over the years. Last summer for me, one of those books was Alice Sebold's novel The Almost Moon (Little, Brown), which was both so horrifying and so compellingly and sensitively written that I couldn't put it down. (It was published in Oct 2007, but I had an early galley copy.) Not every reviewer loved it. There were such high expectations for that second book by the author of The Lovely Bones that perhaps it was doomed to disappoint, as is so often the case with a second book by an accomplished first novelist. But that tale of a woman and her fractured, dangerous and all-consuming relationship with her parents (and herself, for that matter) was so mesmerizing that I practically carted it all over the beaches of the Outer Banks for a few days until I finished it. Don't you love it when a book has that kind of power? Don't you want a book like that every summer -- or every month, for that matter? I'm with you! (Click here for more info on The Almost Moon if you're interested -- but beware, there may be some spoilers here...)
While I make my way through bookshelves filled with a host of promising summer '08 titles, here's one worth mentioning right now: a really fine new memoir by Lang Lang, Journey of a Thousand Miles: My Story (Spiegel & Grau, on sale July 15). The Chinese pianist's road from near poverty while growing up in Shenyang, to stunning success on some of the greatest stages of the world, is well known in some corners; he's been written about and covered by everyone who knows anything about classical music. We told his story in Reader's Digest in our April 2006 issue, and it was published around the world in 22 of our global editions. Now along comes his memoir of his full rags-to-riches story, in his direct, clear voice. What's so striking in these pages (and also true of so many outstanding talents in their field) is just how hard he worked to achieve his goals.
I love this passage about his early practice sessions:
At first I practiced after dinner until 7:00. Then until 8:00. Then until 9:00, 10:00, and sometimes even 11:00. The walls of the apartment building were thin, and neighbors on all sides—even those from adjoining buildings—began complaining.
"Stop the racket!"
"That music is driving us crazy!"
"I'll kill you if you don't stop!"
"I'll break your hands!"
"I'll call the cops!"
"'Ignore them," my father would say flatly. "Keep practicing."
If they persisted in complaining, he'd answer them with screams of his own. "My son is a genius! You are lucky to get to hear him play for free! One day people will pay good money for the privilege!"
Guess what? That father was right.
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Orchestra plays it again, to a warmer reception
Philadelphia Inquirer
BEIJING - The concert program was much the same as in 1973. The venue was the same. Even some of the guests were the same.
But in contrast to the restrained reception the Philadelphia Orchestra received the first time, the invitation-only audience at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities yesterday showed unbridled enthusiasm for the orchestra in a program marking the 35th anniversary of its groundbreaking first tour of China.
In 1973, Eugene Ormandy became the first conductor of an American orchestra to perform in the People's Republic of China. At that time, Western music was banned and the audience showed only polite approval for the Philadelphians.
This time around, colorful pianist Lang Lang, 25, whose musical heritage spans Beijing and Philadelphia, led a program that was full of emotion, nostalgia and solemnity. The concert started with a moment of silence for the 69,019 known victims of the May 12 earthquake and ended with the audience on its feet.
In the highlight of the concert, Lang Lang, who trained at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, brought delicacy as well as power to the Yellow River Concerto, a Chinese favorite written by four musicians during the Cultural Revolution and based on many familiar melodies.
The home crowd embraced it.
After minutes of applause, Lang Lang followed with a mournful encore of Chopin's Nocturne in E major in memory of the quake victims. He played the piece like a prayer, putting aside his usual animated style at the keyboard.
The concert is to be televised by China's CCTV and Hong Kong's Phoenix TV in an earthquake-relief effort. Orchestra members have waived their broadcast fee, with Chinese and U.S. corporations agreeing to donate $3 million as part of the drive.
Yesterday's afternoon concert was at an older Communist hall that is not one of Beijing's top concert venues but is historically significant. When the orchestra performed here in 1973, two of China's most powerful leaders attended: Premier Chou En-lai on opening night, and Mao Tse-tung's wife, Jiang Qing, on another.
All around the lobby of the theater were enlarged photos of that trip - Ormandy and his wife at the Great Wall; a rehearsal with China's Central Philharmonic; the Philadelphia musicians receiving a gift of a gong from their Chinese hosts.
Before stepping into a gala dinner at the Peninsula Hotel after yesterday's concert, music director Christoph Eschenbach called the performance "intense," saying it was "an emotional event that means so much to the orchestra."
Besides the Yellow River Concerto, he led the orchestra in Beethoven's Egmont overture and Sixth Symphony. The encore was Bernstein's Candide overture. Both Yellow River and Beethoven's Sixth were performed in 1973.
The concert was the start of the final leg of the orchestra's 20-day Asian tour, with stops next in Guangzhou and Shanghai. The orchestra played earlier in Japan and South Korea. This is the sixth time it has performed in China.
Ten members of the current orchestra remember that first time around. At the gala dinner, tables for guests were named in their honor.
Thirty-five years ago, percussionist Anthony Orlando recalled, all the orchestra members "felt like we were representing America. We felt the eyes of the world were on us." And they were.
In 1971, China invited the U.S. table tennis team to Beijing - an ever-so-slight thaw in diplomatic relations. That was followed by President Richard M. Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972 and the orchestra's visit the following year.
At the start of the anniversary concert, Li Zhaoxing, a former foreign minister who now heads a group that promotes international exchanges, told the audience that he remembers hearing how the Americans had packed with them toilet paper, a toaster and bottled water, fearing the lack of such amenities in China.
China, he noted wryly, has come a long way since then.
Nicholas and Sheila Platt, who attended both the 1973 concert and this one, said that although the music sounded the same, the audience was far more responsive today. "No one used to jump up," said Nicholas Platt, a former U.S. liaison officer in Beijing in 1973 who escorted Ormandy around China. Platt's wife added that in 1973, the performance of the Yellow River Concerto felt like propaganda. "But this time, I really enjoyed it," she said, applauding as others did the ability of Lang Lang to find emotion in a piece that was an anthem of the turbulent Cultural Revolution.
Yin Chengzong, one of its four arrangers, said they wrote it back then, adapting it from an earlier piece of music, in a desperate ploy to discourage the culture warriors under Mao's wife from destroying Western musical instruments such as the piano.
Victor Kuo, who works here for IBM, remembers the 1973 performance for what he didn't hear. When he learned that Mao's wife was going to attend the Philadelphia Orchestra's performance, he knew that her appearance would be televised news. Kuo said he sought out one of the few televisions on the campus of Beijing University, where he was a student, hoping to hear a snippet of the famous Philadelphians. The news came on, the orchestra was shown - but without sound. "That moment, I felt a sadness that was so deep I never forgot," said Kuo.
Kuo, who went on to study at the University of Pennsylvania in the '80s, said that during his years in Philadelphia he never missed a Friday afternoon performance of the orchestra. He said he was moved by yesterday's performance and reminded of all the change in China that it represented. "This orchestra," Kuo said, "is very special."
Marking Sino-US relations with music
By Bernice Chan
China Daily
Tonight a concert will mark a historic event that happened 35 years ago.
In September 1973, the Philadelphia Orchestra was the first American group of musicians to perform in China. Led by conductor Eugene Ormandy, the orchestra played with members of the Central Philharmonic Orchestra. Music Director Christoph Eschenbach (L) shares a smile with pianist Lang Lang at a press conference in Beijing, June 1, 2008.
They, along with the Philadelphia Orchestra, will perform tonight and tomorrow to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its first concert in China. Five years later, China and the United States established diplomatic relations.
To celebrate the milestone in Sino-US relations, tonight's performance will "recreate" that concert, with two pieces of music on the program 35 years ago. This time, led by Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, the Philadelphia together with pianist Lang Lang will perform the Yellow River Concerto and Beethoven's Symphony No 6 ("Pastoral").
The concert will even be held at the same place 35 years ago, at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities, which will bring back memories to those who attended back then.
Three of the musicians who played at that time gave anecdotes of event at a press conference on Sunday. Bass player Neil Courtney remembers how the American orchestra members were free to wander the streets and meet people. "Everyone was wearing blue or gray, but the children were wearing such colorful clothes," he recalls. "It was such a contrast, but also showed that children had a bright future."
Another musician surnamed Liu from the Central Philharmonic Orchestra spoke of how the Chinese players were so nervous about being conducted by a foreigner. He also said they presented a gong to the Philadelphia Orchestra, which it still has to this day.
Artistic Director and organizer of the concert Yu Long joked tonight's venue backstage still looks like it did 35 years ago, but promised the audience won't be wearing only blue and gray, but colorful outfits.
For Eschenbach who has been to China many times, the concert not only has historic significance, but also hopes to please the audience. "The Philadelphia Orchestra and I on many occasions have experienced the love of the Chinese people and we hope to give that back to you," he said.
Lang Lang commented the event had greater personal meaning for him. "Christoph [Eschenbach] is one of the most special people in my life – he is the one who discovered me and is my mentor." The pianist added he lives and studied in Philadelphia.
Tonight's guest list includes former US Secretary of State General Alexander Haig, Anna Chennault (Cheng Xiangmei), Chen Zhili, Vice-Chairwoman of the NPC Standing Committee, Cheng Siwei, Vice-Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Culture Minister Cai Wu.
The Philadelphia Orchestra will also perform tomorrow night at Poly Theater and then travel to Guangzhou on June 6 and then Shanghai for concerts on June 6 and 8.
Wanting to help the victims of the May 12 Sichuan earthquake, the orchestra has waived its broadcast fees for tonight's concert. Instead it has solicited donations from its own players and corporate sponsors, raising over $3 million so far.
Lang Lang, Philly Orchestra Stage Earthquake Benefit
The New York Sun
Chinese pianist Lang Lang will perform a benefit concert in Beijing Monday with the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by musical director Christoph Eschenbach, to help with the earthquake relief effort in China.
The concert will also commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Philadelphia Orchestra's monumental 1973 tour to China, meant to signify the end of harsh relations between America and China.
The concert will be broadcast live from the Minzu Theater. Lang Lang and the orchestra will perform Beethoven's Overture to "Egmont" and Symphony No. 6 as well as China's national piano concerto, "Yellow River Piano Concerto," arranged by Yin Chengzong, and a traditional piece, "Moon Reflections."
Proceeds from the concert will help to support the rebuilding of the Sichuan Province's school system, which was devastated by the May 12 earthquake. Lang Lang has already participated in events that have raised more than $3 million for the earthquake relief effort.
The Healing Power of Classical Music
Compiled by Felicia R. Lee
New York Times
Published: June 04, 2008
From the classical music world come two stories of coping. The Philharmonie, home of the Berlin Philharmonic, reopened for concerts and tours on Monday, less than two weeks after a fire, and the Philadelphia Orchestra turned its Beijing concert into a benefit for rebuilding after the earthquake that devastated parts of Sichuan Province, China, last month. The German Symphony Orchestra was the first to perform in the Philharmonie's main concert hall after a May 20 fire forced rescue crews to tear down a quarter of the roof, The Associated Press reported. The Berlin Philharmonic is scheduled to return Thursday to perform works by Shostakovich and Ravel. Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Orchestra's concert, with the pianist Lang Lang and the conductor Christoph Eschenbach, was to be recorded and broadcast by CCTV, China's largest television network, and fed to Phoenix TV in Hong Kong for broadcast, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Negotiations are under way with PBS for an American broadcast, according to the report. The proceeds will help rebuild the Sichuan school system. The orchestra, which is near the end of a three-week tour of Asia, is waiving its broadcast fee and will make a donation to the China Youth Development Foundation. The broadcasts will solicit individual donations.
