Lang Lang’s best brand man
mainThe pianist refers to his best friend David Lee as ‘bro’, a compliment warmly recipricated.
Mr Lee and his wife were guests at Lang Lang’s wedding.
Lang Lang gets to drive Mr Lee’s expensive Ferraris.
Mr Lee makes his fortune in California, selling jewellery and luxury cars.
It is somehow reassuring to know that the minds of our great artists are focussed unerringly on the highest things in life.
Sorry, guys. This one’s a Bugatti.
Rubinstein famously loved the high life, in many ways, and was undoubtedly one of the *the* great artists of a golden age. That’s part of what made his playing so joyful and his stage demeanour so captivating. Even if you practiced with slavish devotion, 5,6,7,8 hours a day, there’s still lots of time left for hobbies and cars. I can’t see a problem. I’m not a huge fan of Lang Lang’s playing, but happy to see him enjoying himself. He seems like nice guy and works hard for the music.
But Rubinstein did not accrue a gallery of ‘celebrity endorsements’ as has Lang: Volkswagen, Armani, Bombardier, Allianz…and nor did he have his own line of Adidas shoes or his own ‘signature scent’ on the market. All this claptrap is not about his hobbies; it is about pursuing money and celebrity status. As you mention the ‘Golden Age’, it might be instructive to think about those pianists: Kempff, Solomon, Edwin Fischer, Annie Fischer, Arrau, Horszowski, Serkin, et al., and try to imagine them appearing in ads for cars or perfume. I find it a touch difficult. There are a number of reasons those musicians would not have done these things, not the least being such extra-curricula activities’ utter incompatibility with the highest artistry and the artists’ total immersion in the highest arts. Classical music has been debased in many ways of late, and this is one of those ways.
What pompous baloney !!
Ummm…..bombastic salami!!
Your turn, Wladek.
Autre temps, autre moeurs. The age of the celebrity endorsement as a business came later than these people. Charlie Chaplin didn’t do them, but Laurence Olivier did. Not saying it’s a good thing, but it’s the way of this period in time. Be fair.
Edwin Fischer: 1886. Annie Fischer: 1914. The others were born between those years, with a cluster in 1902-3. Laurence Olivier was born in 1907, so I see a rather serious flaw in your argument there.
I am no Lang Lang fan, or a fan of blogposts like the one above. Far from it. Let’s keep things in perspective: Yehudi Menuhin advertised Rolex watches. Arguably nobody is infallible.
One reason why they didn’t cash in on the merchandising was because recordings paid so much better back in the day.
And the cult of personality back then around soloists and conductors was insane.
Lang Lang is bringing people into concert halls. You may not like his interpretations, but it’s not like he’s making cuts or only playing a single movement to satisfy people with short attention spans a la Liberace. Who really cares if he has his own line of sneakers?
Oh, come on! There is a very good and simple reason the greats of previous generations did not endorse a galaxy of commercial products. Such endorsements featuring classical music celebrities are an almost totally recent phenomenon. Not even Rolex started the movement. Remember that Rubinstein happily endorsed Breguet watches and his name is still used in some of their advertising!
Yes, I guess he’s having the life now he didn’t have for years practicing the piano endlessly.
How nice! And how coincidental that the car looks exactly like Lang Lang sounds.
Who actually gives an t*ss?
These guys are perfect for each other.
It’s actually the life-like Barbie doll that Lang Lang has married that worries me!! Honestly, I find that look un-nerving; virtually nothing left of the Chinese!!
Apart from your comment being condescending, his wife has no Chinese blood! Her ancestry is Korean. She is half-Korean half-German!
Yes, condescending and more than a little racist.
The comment was much like a clever fox walking
past the chicken coop to size up the response .There isn’t
and wasn’t a musician who did not want the good life .
At least Lola Astanova only does this claptrap for photoshoots.
Dang, Lang Lang married a real doll. No denying it.