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At the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games last month, the world-famous Chinese pianist Lang Lang (26) sat in front of a white grand piano and played it with a seven-year-old girl in the middle of the National Stadium. Their performance, along with choreographed troupe creating an image of a dove, was spectacular to behold, but after the ceremony was over, it emerged that it was in fact a piece of pre-recorded music -- which is why the lid of the grand piano had remained firmly shut.
In a telephone interview, Lang Lang, who is scheduled to perform in Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday, admits the music was recorded in advance. ¡°I wasn¡¯t performing alone and had to play with an orchestra. Since it was an outdoor performance in a huge stadium, not a concert hall, we had to record in advance for the sake of sound quality. But I¡¯m happy that I had a chance to present a piece that represents China in front of the worldwide audience.¡±
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Lang Lang /Photo provided by Universal Music Korea
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Lang is known for his bouncy and vivacious personality and direct, bold and spontaneous interpretations. He is not an artist in an ivory tower but a musician of a new generation who actively interacts with the media. This is why he is either loved or loathed by the critics. ¡°When I was young, I took the criticism seriously and was influenced by it, and that didn¡¯t really help me,¡± he recalls. ¡°Because everyone had different perspectives on me, it was bad for my concentration. I later realized that what makes music is how serious and focused you are about music, not criticism. I don¡¯t play music to satisfy the critics.
He probably has most of his life still before him, but this busy star pianist has already published his first autobiography, titled ¡°Journey of a Thousand Miles,¡± to be published in 12 countries. ¡°Ever since I left my hometown Shenyang and moved to Beijing to learn to play the piano at nine, my life has been a continuous journey. I give over 120 concerts a year worldwide,¡± Lang says.
Korea is one intermediate stop in this journey, and Lang is scheduled to perform twice here, once in the Seongnam Arts Center on Tuesday and once in the Seoul Arts Center on Wednesday. He will play Rachmaninov¡¯s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Chung Myung-whun.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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