Lang Lang: 40 today and nowhere to go
NewsThe Chinese pianist has hit a milestone.
His personal life has blossomed with marriage and fatherhood but his horizons are narrowing.
Chinese artists are increasingly subject to state discipline. China has allied itself with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine and has turned a deaf ear to western protests about its oppression of the Uighurs.
Lang Lang looks increasingly uncomfortable when facing questions from western media.
His repertoire is now predictable, his interpretations familiar. Even his fashions are looking slightly dated.
Where’s left for Lang Lang to go?
There is a gap in the market for a new Liberace.
Liberace was a better pianist and musician than Lang Lang.
Yes, Liberace played so well by ear too. Ability was always underestimated as he was in the popular world of entertainment.
Lang Lang, bang bang, love love you. I will sponsor you and your family here in AZ.
He also *literally* has “nowhere to go,” as traveling almost anywhere in China involves periods of quarantine. And getting out of and back into China isn’t exactly a picnic either. (I speak from firsthand–and recent–experience.)
Here we go again.
It’s not Lang Lang’s fault that President Xi is in power – why should he have to answer questions about China since were he to criticise the regime then his family will suffer.
Would you say the same about Yuja Wang or YoYo Ma?
Absolutely agree.So fed up & bored with banging politics all the time, every time, anywhere, everywhere.
Every musician should be politically correct or else? Never mind they have families, relatives…
In a communist country every worker is an asset of the government, so they ARE going to get questions about this thing they represent.
But aren’t there privately-owned companies in China?
On paper, yes. In practice… not much. Any company or company owner who isn’t heeding the demands of the central government will be de-listed/de-funded/de-tained. It has happened to bigger China figures than a mere piano player.
What you say is correct, but back in the day, that didn’t stop artists (and Party members) like Oistrakh from touring in the West, nor fervid anti-communists from revering their artistry. How frequently was Oistrakh asked his opinion about Soviet government policy, say, about the Cuban missile crisis or the 1956 Hungarian revolt? (This is a genuine question, as I have no information on the subject.)
They had minders back then, and artists knew they couldn’t express their opinions freely.
How is it different today? I do not know much about China, but in Russia today even calling the war in Ukraine a war and not a special operation can land you in jail for 15 years. This is according to a new law against “fake news” which applies to everything different from what the government says. People have been arrested simply for holding a piece of paper with “I am for peace” written on it. Or “No to war”, the old Soviet slogan “peace to the world” or even “*** *****” (with asterisks presumably standing for “net voyne” which means “no to war” in Russian.) I heard even a blank sheet of paper is a problem.
They were all accused of “trying to discredit the army.” One guy in a Siberian town was arrested for giving out free copies of “1984” even though the book is not forbidden. Someone else was arrested because of the blue and yellow color of his sneakers.
I do not know the situation in China, but I do not believe they look kindly to dissent.
So the armchair worriers here should really think if they would be willing to take such a risk in similar circumstances. Also, consider that the conditions in prisons there are much worse than jn the US. Better yet, if you are so brave, go there and join the protest.
Yo Yo Ma wasn’t born in and never lived in China -he is American so why should he be asked about China.
Not that it matters, but Yo Yo Ma was born in Paris.
All over the world, those low level politicians are not educated with arts. That made them crazy !
We need more musicians than politicians.
Lang has been in recovery from a left-hand injury and in recent years has avoided the barnstorming pieces he championed earlier, wisely substituting the Goldberg Variations. I’ve read that he’s going to program the Saint-Saens 2nd Concerto this year, a comparatively brief work (22-25 minutes), as a reentry to his erstwhile repertoire. Since Lang (along with Yuja) has effectively attracted new & younger audiences to classical music, I welcome his reemergence.
He is scheduled to play the Saint-Saens 2nd concerto with the Pacific Symphony in September. It should easily sell out.
It must suck to peak at 22. He seemed fresh and exciting at the beginning but it quickly got tiresome.
Not a fan if him.Too much if a showman imo to be regarded a serious concert pianist.And ‘Bang Bang’ comes to mind.
I”ve long suspected that he was bored with the life of a concert pianist.
He sure is!!
-married
-his wife gives master classes…let me laugh
-kids
-AND A PACK OF CASH
-And a lack of musical interest
AMEN!
Supposedly worth US$30M. Almost sure I read he got a HK SAR passport like Alibaba’s Jack Ma and all the elites in China. Lang got it approve swiftly under the category of “artists” a quota still widely opened. And with under US$1M investment (apartment -house). Hk passport holders have freedom to travel under HK’s Basic Law. Chinese in China do not hv such freedom. That was why hk properties skyrocketed in price and can’t fall too much down. Post Covid, plane loads will arrive determined to hv that HK passports after the Zero Covid policy of extreme enforced isolation, lockdown, and being dragged off yo those “Fang Cang” concentration camps, and enforced babies, toddlers, kids draconian separation from parents in hospitals.
Bang Bang will be just fine.
He is not Bang Bang. Listen to his Mozart
Yes, it is Mozart performed by Bang Bang lol
I agree. And try his Debussy and Chopin.
I’ve actually seen him on the stage twice, the first time when he was about 24 or 25. I have always thought he was a little affected on stage, and find his videos off-putting for that reason, though the sound in some of his better work is not bang-bang at all but quite delicate. (Not in all — he has some taste for diving in that I also find a touch indelicate).
I met him when he was younger and found an utterly unaffected person, sweet, shy and friendly. I have also seen him conduct master classes and he is, again, generous, kind and very thorough.
Everyone has favourite pianists, and favourite renditions of particular pieces, but I find the targeting of Lang Lang on this site a bit bandwagon-ish. He may indeed be far from the best of his contemporaries, and celebrity culture has certainly been a part of propelling him into the household name class he occupies today.
But he is not just a banger, and he has done a lot of good. Those who have been exposed to enough of his work to dislike it need not make up any future audience, and are free to criticise anything in his performance they find wanting. But “bang-bang” is rather smart-ass, rather than smart or informative.
Robotic!
I don’t think we can afford him in Birmingham. Have not seen him performing live in years.
I am surprised Slipped Disc publishes such negativity about any major artist. Public shaming of a great artist of any nationality on a milestone birthday looks like middle school style pettiness where I would expect graciousness. Small minds and hearts write this kind of petty drivel.
There’s a lot of that going around. I think it is beneath, way beneath, the music and arts community to demean artists caught in the muck of politics. Readers who keep up can probably name more than one well-regarded artists who were hit when this stuff was flung.
Krompholz?
Made in neutral Switzerland.
I can’t stand to listen to him play for 3 minutes but his Foundation has done lots of good works and seems like a sincere interest for him.
Also, despite all the make or break influence he probably has, he doesn’t seem to have turned into a cutthroat Isaac Stern type. Seems to enjoy life well enough. I see no reason to hate on him.
In Lancashire we have an old saying “what a condescending little tosser” which refers to people who have little or no talent (in any field) but take delight in denigrating the talent of others……….have a look in the mirror!
Amazing that you were able to make it to three minutes.
“Where’s left for Lang Lang to go?”
– Crossover.
Being 40 and married with 2 kids….sounds a new life to spend all his money.And besides his playing is too show business.
I am not sure he enjoys playing piano any more.
You, Mr Lebrecht, have nowhere to go! And that’s why instead of congrats- all you could do was spew out this nasty, below-the-belt post! As they say in Hebrew – titbayesh lecha!
Perhaps pack up and live elsewhere ….
Insisting that musicians hold or not hold political views seems to me to be modern day Stalinism.
I would have thought this might be an issue for any concert artist. You are the bright young thing. Then there are the elder statesman, e.g. Sir Anfras Schiff or Daniel Barenboim. How do you navigate the intervening years
Presumably by giving consistently good performances and explore new repertoire like Sir Stephen Hough.
Lang Lang, you will always produce beautiful music. Ignore the naysayers
.l hv faith in you. God will open roads for you, and the roads He opens, no man can block, no man can close. I’m Pastor Rosalind from Penang
Pianist not politician.