Lang Lang
Cover reporter Xu Yuyang
Childhood is the age of dream building, and music is the bridge of magic. Children are the easiest to receive and be infected. When we are still in the womb, we listen to the music of prenatal education and slowly develop. Music should be every child’s first friend. What familiar melodies do you have in your childhood? On September 16, pianist Lang Lang released a new album “Lang Lang’s Disney”, which is a wonderful playlist for every child. When the new album was launched, Lang Lang also accepted a group interview with the media online.
Recreate childhood melodies
Let European fairy tales have Chinese narratives
“Lang Lang’s Disney” has a total of 27 classic Disney animation music that has been re-scored and adapted by Lang Lang and his team, including “Beauty and the Beast”, “Little World” and the theme song “LET” of “Frozen”, which has become popular all over the world in recent years. IT GO” and so on. Lang Lang shared that the original intention of making the new album came from his love for cartoons as a child. “I am an uncompromising animation fan. I have loved watching cartoons since I was a child, and it was the classical music in cartoons that brought me into this magical world of music,” Lang Lang said. When I was a child, animation music was not as diverse as it is now, and almost all traditional classical music was the mainstay. It is precisely because of this that cartoons almost opened the door to classical music for Lang Lang.
“When I was 13 and won the gold medal at the 2nd Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians Competition in Japan, one of the rewards I got was a trip to Tokyo Disneyland. That was the first time I heard the Little World, this melody stayed with me all day, and for a long time after that.”
“Small World” contains a large human planet. As the opening work of the album “Lang Lang’s Disney”, it also tells the audience that music is our common language. We can gain happiness and energy in music and regain our innocence. with childlike fun. After “Little World“, there are 26 carefully selected Disney classic melodies, they not only cover the history of Disney animation spanning more than 80 years, but also cover the most popular animation theme songs.
Lang Lang and Disney
The movie “Mulan” adapted from a Chinese story is not only full of oriental temperament and romance, but also the theme song “Reflection” is one of Disney’s golden songs. The version in Lang Lang’s album even invites the erhu performer Gugan to play in piano and orchestral music. In the grand performance of the troupe, the heroines are depicted with oriental tones. Lang Lang’s wife, young pianist Gina Alice, recorded the Chinese version of the theme song “Wish to the Stars” from “Pinocchio”, giving European fairy tales a Chinese narrative.
Adapting a classic is hard
How to innovate in familiar melody?
Classic adaptations are often the hardest, especially the familiar Disney animated music. Lang Lang also mentioned that if the classics are not improved a little, it will easily become the background music heard in the elevator.
However, Lang Lang is very satisfied with the final result of the whole album, thanks to the strong lineup and adaptation team.
World-class arrangers Stephen Hough, Natalie Tenenbaum and Randy Kerber join in to bring the familiar melodies to a new level. While maintaining the charm of the melody itself, use more imagination to paint new colors for the music.
In the recording department of the album, it is even more star-studded. World-renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli sings “You’re in My Heart”, the theme song of “Tarzan”, and singer-songwriter and pianist Jonathan Baptiste once again performs his Oscar-winning song “It’s Okay” , Colombian singer-songwriter Sebastian Yatra once again brought the emotion of the Oscar-nominated song “Two Caterpillars” back to fans. Also involved are classical guitarist Milosh Karadagli, Chinese erhu player Kogan, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
But even so, during the production, Lang Lang encountered “difficulties” many times. “When recording several times, many songs became very similar to each other, so we would readjust. Now, looking back at some of the pieces, I have forgotten how I made them, but overall I am very satisfied.”
“Lang Lang’s Disney” is the first album released by Lang Lang after he became a father. This is not only a musical gift from Lang Lang to his children, but also to all the young generation. “Music is one of the most important parts of our family, and our baby has shown a keen interest in music as well, and he was one of the first and probably the youngest listeners to my new album.”
Fairy tales accompany everyone’s childhood, and this time, with the blessing of music, it can help young listeners better understand the stories. Lang Lang hopes to pass on the experience and positive energy gained from music as a child to the younger generation of listeners, “I am very fortunate that I have received formal music education and guidance since I was a child, which has allowed me to go further and further on the road of pursuing musical ideals. Far away. Now, I would like to share these gains with more people, such as face-to-face communication with piano boys in master classes, and continuous release of new music works and concerts.”
Lang Lang
right
talk
1. What are your views on the contemporary development of classical music? And how do you view today’s digital age?
Lang Lang:Classical music is really hard these days. Because the epidemic has changed the way people listen to music, there are very few concert halls, so it is a big challenge to the overall environment. Digitalization is developing very well, and of course it has also brought a lot of impact to live concerts, but the digital age is a good age, and there are pros and cons in general.
2. For children who are beginners in piano, can you provide some skills in reading music?
Lang Lang:I read music very fast, and my trick is to have the perfect coordination between my brain, eyes, and keyboard. The eyes have to stare at the score, and the brain has to keep up. Just like the feeling of the strongest brain remembering numbers, it is also like your familiarity with the keyboard. When you want to play, you don’t need to look at the piano at all, just stare at the score, don’t relax your head, stare at it a few times, and then you will remember it.
3. Do you think offline performances will recover later, will the subsequent online performances continue?
Lang Lang:I think it can. In the future, there may be both offline and online performances. You can’t perform offline every time. There will always be some accidents and situations. At this time, we will rely on online. Of course, for classical concerts, it is best for everyone to go offline.
4. What is the current acceptance of classical music by Chinese audiences? Do you have any new forms of interaction at concerts now?
Lang Lang:If you play it well, no matter what the interaction is, if you play it badly, no interaction will work. This is the truth. Of course you can be creative in your tracks. As far as acceptance is concerned, I think it is very good now. Let me give you an example, the Goldberg Variations, which is a very serious piece of classical music with a high threshold. At first I only dared to play in cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, but then I tried it out in Guiyang, and the effect was very good. Since then, I have also played this piece on national tours, but there is no problem with everyone’s acceptance, which proves that The national audience’s awareness of classical music has improved a lot. Return to Sohu, see more
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