Pianist Lang Lang on his work-life balance – and the magic of Mika
■ Born in China in 1982, Lang Lang started to learn the piano just three years later — and it’s been a part of his life ever since. Aged nine, he was dropped by his tutor for having “no talent” and his strict father advised that he take his own life. “We’re very good friends now. I’ve forgiven him for many years already,” he says today.
Instead of giving up, Lang Lang rose to great heights. Today he’s probably the world’s most famous pianist, a prodigy who has performed at the White House, the King’s Coronation and concert halls around the world. Now aged 41, many credit him with single-handedly creating a new generation of pianists in China, and with his International Music Foundation’s Keys of Inspiration programme, he’s trying to do the same in the UK and America. Assuming, of course, that he hasn’t already found the next big thing while hiding in a train station for Channel 4…
THE OVERTURE My first memory is of there being a piano in the house from when I was one. We listened to classical music and Chinese folk music on a videotape cassette and later CDs. My father plays the Chinese violin, which is called the erhu. When I was a kid, it was harder to make friends because I was always practising.
CHANGING MY TUNE My life has improved tremendously, which I do appreciate but, honestly, I don’t have so much time to feel it. I’m always on the road and focused on how I’m going to get better as a pianist. But I think now that I’m married, with a baby, I have to fly back home more often [he has houses in New York, Paris and Shanghai]. An artist’s life is very hard to balance. I need to do better. I need to cut some activities.
STRIKING A CHORD I knew immediately that we needed The Piano. Shows like that are often core-classical and are very hard for people to watch on television — this is something for everybody. But being on The Pian
