Artists at Google: Lang Lang | "The Chopin Album"

The Chopin Album -- Lang Lang's third album for Sony Classical -- includes the second set of Chopin's Études (op. 25), the Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise and a selection of shorter works that he has long enjoyed performing, including three Nocturnes and the Waltz op. 64 no. 1, popularly known as the "Minute" Waltz.

Chopin "speaks with such a universal voice," Lang Lang says. "I genuinely believe he's a true ambassador for classical music among the great composers. He appeals to everyone."

Chopin has accompanied Lang Lang throughout his career. One of the first pieces he learnt was the Grande Valse brillante in E-flat major op. 18 (included on this album), and it was Chopin's music that also carried him through a number of career-changing competitions, including Ettlingen (Germany) in 1994 and the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Sendai (Japan) in 1995, when he took First Prize performing Chopin's Second Piano Concerto. And it was with the Chopin Études that Lang Lang made his now-renowned Beijing Concert Hall recital at age 14 -- a performance that led to his studying with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.

"The reason that Chopin's Études hold such a special place for pianists", says Lang Lang, "is that they provide the training for so many different elements of technique. But they're not just studies, not just normal exercises -- not just for your fingers -- they help you develop how your mind works, and how you control the different layers of your emotional response."

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Artists at Google
Lang Lang The Chopin Album - Interview moderated by Jeff Spurgeon of WOXR
October 15th, 2012
[Applause]

[Lang Lang] Good morning. Thanks for being here.

I'm very happy to be here for the second time, but the first time, I wasn't on the stage.

I just - I was just visiting the office - a very cool office, I say.

And yes, I prepared some morning songs for you to wake up.

[laughter]

So, a few Chopin pieces. We'll start with one of them, a very beautiful Nocturne

and then, one or two Etudes, and then a Chopin waltz.

So hopefully, we will get really waked after 20 minutes of performance. Thank you.

[Applause]

[Chopin: Nocturne in E-flat major, Opus 55 #2 (?)]

(6:44) [Etude - which?]

(8:11) [Etude in E Major, Op. 10, No. 3]

(13:01) [Chopin: Waltz op 64 #1(?])

(16:42) [Applause]

[Jeff Spurgeon] Hello. I'm Jeff Spurgeon from WOXR, New York's classical station .......

You may not know, because nobody told you: this is Lang Lang.

He's a classical pianist, reasonably well-known all over the globe (17:12)

and it's quite a wonderful thing to hear you play.

Let me ask you: what was your warm up for this?

Just this morning: did you warm up this morning?

[Lang Lang] I - I'm sorry, I didn't warm up:

I woke up around 10:20 [laughter]

I mean I was running like crazy - speed - to get here

and I'm really grateful that I - I mean - you are here today, ...... for me. Thank you very much.

[Jeff Spurgeon] It's really wonderful
[Applause]

[Jeff Spurgeon] It's extraordinary to have all that music just in your head, just at your command,

but that's what you do.

[Lang Lang] Well, as Rubinstein said, you know, one of the greatest pianists,

and he's had, he has like 60 piano concertos in his head.

And basically doing - in his 70's or 80's he said:

"Just call me up, wake me up in the middle of the night, like, say, 4 am -

and I can play whatever piece you want - in concert level" Well, I mean that's -

[Spurgeon] I believe it but so can you - but so can you.

He's had - he had a little more practice than you so far,

but you'll be there.

In China, Lang Lang is credited with influencing some 40 million kids

to take up classical piano.

Now, I know that 40 million is not maybe a huge number at Google,

but still [audience laughs] it's a reasonably large number of people - [Lang Lang laughs]

to persuade to take up - and when you think about all the pianos that have to be made,

and all the music that has to be printed,

and all the lessons that have to be paid for,

I would say that you are, without question, classical music's greatest job creator.[laughter]

I don't think there's anybody who's going to do more than that than you are.

Lang Lang's new album on the Sony label is "The Chopin Album".

It contains at its heart the Opus 25 set of a dozen études, studies for piano,

that you have been studying since I think you were what?

Eight it was when you started to play those things?

[Lang Lang] Yeah, I started to play the Chopin études when I was 8, and -

[Spurgeon] Took them on the road when you were 12 or 13?

[Lang Lang] Yeah, I played the complete études when I was 13, right,

and it was very tiring to play those pieces [laughter].

I mean, it drives me nuts and it drives my neighbors nuts [laughter]

I really feel bad about it, you know.

And, as you know, recently I started practicing in my appartment here,

and I started practicing the Chopin études, you know [imitates a few notes]

and then my neighbor knocked at my door: "Can - could you stop?"

[Spurgeon] Really? You mean really?

[Lang Lang] Yeah. I mean, no no.

I mean there's one neighbor who knows who I am,

so she's always like, "Oh, that's really wonderful!"

But then, there's another neighbor, I think, living downstairs,

because I always like to practice after 11, you know,

to find inspiration [laughter]

And - and this lady, I think she hates me all the time.

So anyway, that's -

[Spurgeon] So you've been playing these since you were 8, playing them in public since you were 13.

Why record them now? Why not a little earlier?

Why not wait a couple more years? Maybe the wine will mellow a little more in the bottle.

Why decide to do these now?

[Lang Lang] I mean, since I'm 30, you know, I like to -

to do some more repertoire, which I played a lot when I was a kid,

and also, you know, putting on new pieces.

I actually thought to do the 24 études, the complete cycle,

but I actually - I thought maybe I should do something, not just technical pieces,

but also very artistic pieces combined for the Chopin first solo for me to record.

And also to hear - I was also actually watching the video that I did when I was 13,

playing the complete études, and I found (?) a few wrong notes, and I [makes dismayed sound]

but now, playing a few of those pieces like "The Winter Wind", "Ocean" études,

now I feel slightly easier - slightly.

So that seems like a good sign, you know.

17 years of practice and my technique is going somewhere [laughter]

And - but more importantly, is the musical sense that -

there are so many new things I'm trying to reinterpret in this album,

that I try to find different colors, like you have here, different levels of colors

and the combination of the ...... of Chopin,

you know, the Romantic period of répertoire,

and especially last year, I did Liszt.

So I thought this was a nice moment to do Chopin.

So next year will be very different. So -

[Spuregeon] What's next year?

[Lang Lang] Next year, I will do Prokofiev and Bartók.

[Spurgeon] Well! OK So it's very very different, totally different, truly...

There's some unusual pieces on this album.

The Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise, a big favorite of yours,

done with orchestra sometimes, but there is the solo version.

You've always liked this piece? (22:31)

[Lang Lang] Not really. I mean, when I was a [laughter] - when I was a kid, I hated it,

because I mean, once - no matter how great the work of art,

there are so many pianists playing the same piece, not in a very good level (?)

then you will feel kind of bored, you know.

And so that exactly happens when I was a kid,

you know, I heard so many interpretations of this piece I got totally all around (?)

and I didn't like it.

Then I came to America and I studied at Curtis' in Philadelphia

- Do you know the Philly cheese steak? It's pretty good, yeah -

Anyway, so, in Philadelphia, a boy from Kiev, he's - he also studied with the same teacher as me,

Gary Graffman
[Spurgeon] Gary Graffman

[Lang Lang] and he played it in a student recital. I was shocked by his playing.

I'm like "Wow! This piece is spectacular!"

And then I started loving this piece and - thanks to him, of course -

and - so sometimes, you know, one amazing performance

really changes your entire view of a work

and that's what happens in the Spianato and .....

[Spurgeon] Now it turns - you played actually a wonderful cross-section of the album

just a few minutes ago.

There is a piece on this album, it's the last selection called "Tristesse"

and it features a singer named Oh Land, who is from -
[Spurgeon and Lang Lang] Sweden

[Spurgeon] She lives in Williamsburg,

because most people do.
[Lang Lang] Right. [Laughter]

[Lang Lang] Yeah, Brooklyn is getting .....

[Spurgeon] That's - it's beautiful.

Can you tell me the story of this, because it's from a film?

[Lang Lang] Right, Trist - we did a film during the Chopin year,

called "The Flying Machine", so it basically adapts a novel, kind of about Poland today,

and as compared to the Chopin's days.

So actually, I was actor in this movie and my partner was Heather Graham [inaudible]

[Spurgeon] Yeah, Heather Graham - many faces lit up when you said those words. [Laughter]

[Lang Lang] Anyway. But that one was pretty classic. ........

And so that - that film actually was quite inspiring,

because there was Chopin's music and takes the journey of a piano

actually, the piano became a flying machine, sort of,

we take the kids all over the world.

And so, the theme song, we actually thought the Tristesse (?), which is the Opus 10 #3 étude

is such a beautiful melody, which I played here, second to the last (?),

and so we transcribed that to the theme song,

so we got this beautiful voice of - her name is pretty funny: Oh Land -

yeah, so, in the beginning I didn't know she's a - I mean is a he or she -

but when I heard the voice, I most certainly knew she's a she

and she did a wonderful job.

[Spurgeon] Yeah. It's a sweet - it's a sweet song

and Chopin - lots of people - lots of popular songs have been written on Chopin themes,

but this is another and it is just great
[Lang Lang] Yes.

[Spurgeon] Your foundation. Let's talk about that because that's such a big deal:

the Lang Lang International Music Foundation - it's going great guns (?)

you had some kids I think, from part of that program on the Tonight Show?

[Lang Lang] Yeah: two weeks ago I was on Jay Leno -

[Spurgeon] Yeah: four minutes of classical music on network television.

It was extraordinary. Four whole minutes.

[Lang Lang] It was amazing.

You know, these days, it's hard to get classical music on
[Spurgeon] Exactly right.

[Lang Lang] anyway, but I mean, Jay is a good friend

and I mean, his name is Jay Jay now, after [laughter]

[Spurgeon] - the Lang Lang.

[Lang Lang] Oh my god, yes, 400 cars (?) -

anyway, let's not talk about that.

So, we actually had a very fortunate selection of wonderful talents from the Los Angeles area

and they - there were - I mean some of the kids I know them before,

because they perform with me, my condition-

[Spurgeon] Do you mean all kids......

10 of them, so Lang Lang played - you played "La Campanella" and the E-flat Waltz

that you heard part of here, and then ten kids, five other Steinways around in the room

and they are all doing [inaudible]

[Lang Lang] Yeah, Turkish March [sings it]

[sings on the Turkish March] And that was so beautiful

that I really enjoyed working with them, and the way they played, it was magnificent.
[Spurgeon] [Inaudible]

[Lang Lang] And - I mean, I thought I really want, watching, you know,

our next generation perform, it's a special moment and for me it's very inspiring

and that's what our foundation is wanting to do, you know, to work with the next generation of artists

and to - helping them - to support them to achieve their dreams,

just like many of the mentors helped me when I was very young.

[Spurgeon] So, it's about helping the next generation - not necessarily about classical music?

I mean it is classical-focused I think about it (?).

[Lang Lang] Yes, it will be focused on classical and piano,

but in the same time, we will also - to do some .....(?) with the Grammy people

and VHI people, so we're trying to - trying to break the boundaries

through these wonderful projects

and I created this "101 pianists" project. So -

[Spurgeon] You'll have a hundred pianists with you on stage? That's the idea?
[Lang Lang] Yes - yes.

50 pianos, people play 4-hands, the re... is that -
[Spurgeon] It's also a great job creator too,

just for the movers.[Laughter]

[Lang Lang] I mean, yeah, the movers were quite happy about this, you know, and this, and -

but the reason we wanted this is, as a pianist, we always practice by ourself.

It's sometimes very lonely, you know, you are in a dark room, much tougher than this one [laughter].

I practice hours, hours, it's - it's hard training and for a kid, it's important to have a partner,

like two kids on one piano, so they can talk a little bit.

And it's like doing your homework, you know, that type of thing.

And then, the teachers can teach them, you know, how to play together

and in the end, we all get together to play, and enjoy the music.

[Spurgeon] Music making
[Lang Lang] Yeah.

[Spurgeon] October 30th at Carnegie Hall, the Lang Lang International Music Foundation

is having a big benefit concert, an evening with Joshua Bell and Dee Dee Bridgewater

and the formerly mentioned Oh Land -

[Lang Lang] And Alec Baldwin
[Spurgeon] And Alec Baldwin will be the host

and [inaudible]

So what's going to happen that night?

Just a big bunch of music making, I guess'

[Lang Lang] Err yes.

[Spurgeon] I mean, do you collaborate, are you doing something with Dee Dee Bridgewater?

[Lang Lang] Yes, so - so here I start, playing some Chopin,

and then - with Josh - we play the Grieg Violin and Piano Sonata -

[Spurgeon] Is he Jay Jay also to you?

[Lang Lang] Err - Josh Josh. [laughter]
[Spurgeon] Just checking.

[Lang Lang] And then [giggles] in the second half, we start with 4 hands, 6 hands, 8 hands - and 10 hands.

[Spurgeon] [Laughs] On one piano?
[Lang Lang] No.
[Spurgeon] OK.

Just checking. Just checking.

[Lang Lang] Yes, 10 hands on one piano that's -

[Spurgeon] Well, you'd know each other very well by the end of the piece, you'd be very familiar.

[Lang Lang] Just like the subway, you know
[Spurgeon] That's right.

[Spurgeon] You are a master, at the age of 30, you are a master, recognized around the globe.

But are you still a student and do you see any of your old teachers?

Gary Graffman was your teacher at Curtis,

and then you've done a little bit of work with Daniel Barenboim.
[Lang Lang] Absolutely.

[Spurgeon] When you see them, do you play for them and ask them for their thoughts?

Is it a lesson they give you - no - how does it work at this level

where you are, in your stage of artistry - with these elder mentors, I guess you'd call them?

[Lang Lang] Yeah. I mean, my teachers were, and still are

Gary Graffman, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Barenboim

and they helped me tremendously, not just technically but -

[Spurgeon] Well, I was going to say, they're not going to say:

"You missed the E flat in the 40th bar." or - that's not what they do. So, what are they -

[Lang Lang] Well, sometimes they do that too. [laughter]

But they - because the great musicians like those names, you know,

they are much more focused on the understanding

and also on the traditional interpretations.

So they will show you how the traditional sound.

And then we will start discussing about new possibilities -

how we recreate those moments that the traditional lights (?).

And then, you know, they will help me to find out my ways, you know:

I will start to explore some of my ideas on those passages, how I'm going to do it.

And obviously, we know that music - there are some, I mean, there are certain styles.

but there are not certain rules, you know, so basically, there are lots of alternatives.

And the important thing is how to organize the alternatives,

and how to - balancing them, having a right pulse (?).

And this is the challenge, because you can do lot of interpretations,

but if they are unbalanced, if what you start, in the end, doesn't make sense,

then all those feelings are wasted, you know,

and so, first you free [inaudible], and then you need to limit your interpretations into certain ways.

And then, in the concert, you start everything new again, you know,

try to get inspired from the actual stage and to recreate new feelings, a new emotion,

but aware of that tradition lines, which will hold every interpretation

in the right speed and right pulse.

[Spurgeon] Right. Well, you're part of that tradition.

You're recreating it and making it at the same time.

I should say too that there is time for questions from all of you here -

a little bit, to just - hold: think of your question -
[Lang Lang] Hold the line! Hold the line!

[Spurgeon] Yeah, exactly.

And I've wondered about the transition from Chinese culture to Western culture for you,

in music as well, because you grew up playing this music for a very long time.

For me, Chinese classical music is - is a little bit strange,

and maybe a little bit difficult to listen to, because I haven't had as much experience with it.

You've been steeped in both traditions.

Do you hear them the same way, or do you switch, sort of from one to another?

And you put them together too, because you've done lots of piano transcriptions

of traditional Chinese pieces that weren't thought of on a piano. (33:52)