Is there nothing Lang Lang won’t do on TV?

Is there nothing Lang Lang won’t do on TV?

main

norman lebrecht

November 07, 2015

Like playing a floor-laid keyboard with his feet, and an oversexed dog jumping around him?

Or making raw meatballs.

Watch Sat-1 here.

lang lang sat-1

Comments

  • Max Grimm says:

    In Lang Lang’s defence, I doubt he possesses the ability to control the sex drive of canines and raw meat is usually the preferred ingredient and starting point when making fresh meatballs.

  • Anne63 says:

    Classical musicians can’t win, can they? They’re either remote and “elitist” or mocked for making appearances like this. At least the general public has some awareness of his existence.

    In an ideal world, this wouldn’t happen, but IMO it’s better than shutting him away completely.

    • william osborne says:

      Why this simplistic either/or view? Classical musicians could be on the major networks with programs like Bernstein’s Omnibus (1954-58,) or the NBC Opera Theater (1949-64.) The push for greater exposure need not be linked to evermore superficiality.

      • Anne63 says:

        “Why this simplistic either/or view?”

        Because those seem to be the options that the networks present us with.

        I DID say, in an ideal world, this would not happen.

        • william osborne says:

          Don’t let your perceptions of possibility be defined by mainstream media. Those with a vision can create a better world.

          • Andrew R. Barnard says:

            William,

            Easier said than done. Especially when you’re not offering alternatives at the moment.

      • Alvaro says:

        You are a competent and intelligent man William, but this must be THE dumbest argument I have ever seen regarding the public appearances of popular figures of arts and culture.

        Hey, he would also be wearing powdered Wigs like Mozart (1780-90), or go on tour with a horse like all the major composers (1500-1900), or coming to America by boat like Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, ETC.

        Seriously? Do you think ANYTHING that we see nowadays on TV or the Internet…A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G even REMOTELY resembles anything people in the 1950’s or 60’s watched? Are you serious?

        BREAKING NEWS: We are in the 21st century! Get off your horse, take off your wig, and face reality. This is the best we got…..

        and Andre Rieu

  • Alvaro says:

    For norman: if you try to play beethoven with a dog, you are an a-hole….now, igudesman & Joo play heavy metal on an electric violin with distortion and for norman they are “doing a lot to expand the audiences for classical music”.

    Go figure…..

  • CDH says:

    Personal prejudices make a lot of difference in coverage around here. Valentina Lisitsa could do no wrong until even here it had to be acknowledged that she was on what was considered (around here) the “wrong” side of the issue. (Her vulgarity and racism had never wrinkled an N-L-ian eyebrow). Montero good, Dudamel bad. Lang Lang: Ambassador of kitsch. Never mind that 1) he is a good player, and has the support of many fine critics and musicians in saying so; 2) he has been a factor in the spread of classical music in China; 3) he has also opened up classical music to people who had previously ignored it elsewhere in the world by making it accessible, fun, cool. He may not be the greatest musician on the planet — nobody, including himself, is saying that he is — but he does contribute to the building of audiences and support for music. And in his concerts he plays serious music, seriously, and as well as he can — which is at a level good enough to satisfy a lot of people less ungenerous than Mr. Lebrecht.

  • Delphine1962 says:

    Lord, Norman, can’t you give the guy a break? Of course he is a big media personality; he’s having some harmless fun on a tv show, as do most celebrities. He isn’t frightened of making a bit of an idiot out of himself and he is making a big contribution to the accessibility of classical musicians and is role model to many, in a good way. Surely there is room for this in the industry.

    • Alvaro says:

      Norman likes it better when musicians make idiots of themselves ON STAGE, like the nefarious Igudesman&Joo. Thats all cool.

  • Ann Goldberg says:

    In next week’s segment, Gergiev, Matsuev, and Trifonov will break-dance.

  • V.Lind says:

    No, not Trifonov. He’s approved (surely).

  • MOST READ TODAY: