Lang Lang (郎朗) has spent the last year traveling the globe promoting his latest album, which he released earlier this in January. The 24-year-old keyboard virtuoso has been hailed as one of the great prodigies of his generation and has earned such press laurels as “stunning” from the The New York Times and prompted The Times of London’s critic to write of his acclaimed BBC Proms debut, “Lang Lang took a sold-out Albert Hall by storm… . This could well be history in the making.”
The prodigy is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and the top American orchestras and has collaborated with some of the world’s top conductors.
For his Tuesday performance at the National Concert Hall, Lang Lang will perform Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 10 in C Major, K 330; Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58; Schumann’s Scenes From Childhood, Op. 15; Rachmaninoff’s Two preludes, Op. 23 and Liszt’ Petrarch: Sonnet No. 104, Annees de Pelerinage No. 2, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, among others.
His ferocious talent doesn’t seem to have gotten the best of the young pianist, whose ability on the ivories is only matched by his ebullient personality, making him an ideal ambassador for classical music. He was recently recognized for his efforts by the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF) who appointed him their youngest international Goodwill Ambassador, a role that sees him garnering support and raising funds for the well-being of underprivileged children.
Born in 1982 in Shenyang, China, he began piano lessons at the tender age of three. At the age of 11, he won the first prize and award for outstanding artistic performance at the Fourth International Young Pianists Competition in Germany. In 1995, aged 13, he played the complete Chopin 24 Etudes at the Beijing Concert Hall and won first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians’ Competition in Japan, where he performed the Chopin Concerto No. 2 with the Moscow Philharmonic. In 2002, he became the first recipient of the Leonard Berstein Award in recognition of his incredible talent.
Lang Lang has an entertaining Web site at www.langlang.com, where viewers can see video clips of him playing, hear music from his CDs, and read his musings.
The Lang Lang Piano Recital will be held at the National Concert Hall (國家音樂廳), Taipei on Tuesday at 7:30pm. As of press time only NT$3,000 tickets are still available through ERA ticketing.
— NOAH BUCHAN
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