Lang Lang, classical music's superstar [音楽時評]
Lang Lang, classical music's superstar は定期的にVancoover に来演しているそうですが，この記事は Interview 形式で書かれています．
Superstar の演奏会，Any Lang Lang concert is an occasion, but his recital of music by Beethoven, Albéniz and Prokofiev will demonstrate a complex balance between artistry and publicity, between marketing and musical inspiration. と書きだしています．
Lang Lang, 28, is a phenomenally gifted man. His technical facility alone is staggering. The Chinese pianist has evolved a special relationship with Vancouver audiences: He first played here in his teens, and has since performed for the Vancouver Recital Society and the Vancouver Symphony on a regular basis.
日本でも，来月，大都市で比較的廉価なサイタルが予定され，チケットは完売になっています．私は買い損ないました．
Is Lang Lang still developing as an artist? Emphatically, yes.と太鼓判を押しています． Since his overarching goal is to go for balance amid diversity, he has no concerns that his fan base might balk at an evening of two Classical period works, another from post-Impressionist Spain, and a tough example of Soviet Modernism f rom Prokofiev. と多様なクラシック音楽の間のバランスを重視しているようです．“I always try for a different range of repertoire,” he said. “These are rather serious, and, in the case of the Prokofiev, challenging works.” in the Vancouver program we go from Germany south to Spain and then north again to Russia.”
Lang Lang’s superstar status also underlines another important sea-change in the classical music world, the astonishing popularity of “Western” classical music in new Asian heartlands. Lang Lang is by no means the first important pianist to emerge from China, an honour that probably goes to Fou Ts’ong, who began playing regular concerts in the 1950s.
この点はたいへん重要な点だと思います．これからのクラシック音楽人口を握っているのは中国だといえるからです．なお，Fou Ts'ong はイギリスで1950年代から活躍したピアニストで，有名なヴァイオリニストだったメニューヒンの娘婿になった人です．
Lang Lang extolled the “incredible” youth music programs in China: “Currently there are 40 million kids learning piano and 90 million kids learning other instruments. And we have so many student orchestras. In terms of classical music, China is coming fast.”
“When you are in Asia, particularly in China, Japan, or Korea, parents pursue this ambitious kind of education. They expect you to enter competitions, and if you’re No. 1, you’re great,” “When I came to America, my teacher Gary Graffman told me to forget about these stupid rankings and just focus on working hard on the music.
Lang Lang はしたがって，クラシック音楽は死に絶えるといわれたのに反して，これから中国中心に拡大すると楽観的に見ています．“A generation ago people used to worry that classical music would eventually die out, but now we know this is definitely not the case. The tradition has been invigorated by Asian performers, and now there are audiences all over that thrive on classical music. I see it as a win-win situation.”
世界第2位の経済大国になった中国は，これから1人っ子政策の影響で急速に高齢化に向かうでしょうが，クラシック音楽人口の急増はそれを上回って進むことでしょう． アメリカもヨーロッパもアジア諸国も，今後，有能な中国人音楽家にどんどん参入されると考えるべきでしょう．それはクラシック音楽のレベル向上に大いに貢献するに違いないでしょう．
Lang Lang, classical music's superstar, wows Vancouver
Presented by The Vancouver Recital Society Orpheum Theatre Friday, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $99-$219
VANCOUVER — The latest love-in between Lang Lang, the most brilliant of today’s classical pianist superstars, and his enormous local fan base will take place Friday night at the Orpheum.
Any Lang Lang concert is an occasion, but his recital of music by Beethoven, Albéniz and Prokofiev will demonstrate a complex balance between artistry and publicity, between marketing and musical inspiration.
Lang Lang, 28, is a phenomenally gifted man. His technical facility alone is staggering. Yet technique isn’t everything in classical music; such artists as Leon Fleisher and Rudolf Serkin (or, in the new generation, Inon Barnatan), express a healthy disdain for the flashy stock in trade of the touring virtuoso.
The Chinese pianist has evolved a special relationship with Vancouver audiences: He first played here in his teens, and has since performed for the Vancouver Recital Society and the Vancouver Symphony on a regular basis. Vancouver has watched him grow up.
Is Lang Lang still developing as an artist? Emphatically, yes. His program for his last Vancouver appearance unsettled some of his fans by including Schubert’s long, long A major Sonata D. 959, a late, dark masterwork that is anything but a virtuoso showpiece. Friday’s program will make a similar point about breadth and depth.
During an interview on a cold afternoon in San Antonio, Tex., a brief respite from his schedule jetting here, there and everywhere, Lang Lang said he was “glad to be coming back to Vancouver, which I love.”
Since his overarching goal is to go for balance amid diversity, he has no concerns that his fan base might balk at an evening of two Classical period works, another from post-Impressionist Spain, and a tough example of Soviet Modernism from Prokofiev.
“I always try for a different range of repertoire,” he said. “These are rather serious, and, in the case of the Prokofiev, challenging works.”
He said the second half of the recital complements the “very Germanic” first half. “The Spanish repertoire is very different. These days I’m doing more French and Spanish repertoire; I’ve also played the Goyescas by Enrico Granados. So in the Vancouver program we go from Germany south to Spain and then north again to Russia.”
The Vancouver Recital Society’s Leila Getz recalled her reaction when she first presented Lang Lang to a Vancouver audience back in the 1990s.
“His first performance here was absolutely, astoundingly wonderful. For reasons I still don’t understand, we had a full house for a completely unknown artist. As soon as he began to play, you could sense the electricity running through an audience that had no prior expectation. That was his Canadian debut, at the Playhouse, when he was still on his student visa. He was very much still a student, a warm, generous, really lovely young person, with a passion for gelato.
“By the time he returned in 2001, to the Chan Centre, it was quite obvious he was absolutely determined to go straight to the top, and to play in bigger halls. He’s always been completely open about where he intends to go and how he intends to go about it.”
Lang Lang’s superstar status also underlines another important sea-change in the classical music world, the astonishing popularity of “Western” classical music in new Asian heartlands. Lang Lang is by no means the first important pianist to emerge from China, an honour that probably goes to Fou Ts’ong, who began playing regular concerts in the 1950s. Half a century later, the roster of new artists from the east is perhaps the single most invigorating development in the classical world.
In a 2009 interview with Jonathan Lennie of Time Out, Lang Lang extolled the “incredible” youth music programs in China: “Currently there are 40 million kids learning piano and 90 million kids learning other instruments. And we have so many student orchestras. In terms of classical music, China is coming fast.”
But on other occasions he has emphasized the downside of competitive, over-focused educational styles. “When you are in Asia, particularly in China, Japan, or Korea, parents pursue this ambitious kind of education. They expect you to enter competitions, and if you’re No. 1, you’re great,” he told a pair of German interviewers. “This is built into the Chinese mindset. Be No. 1 in this, No. 1 in that, No. 1 pianist, No. 1 scientist.”
“I don’t say it’s a waste of time to compare yourself with others,” he said, before adding, “When I came to America, my teacher Gary Graffman told me to forget about these stupid rankings and just focus on working hard on the music. I totally agree. There is no ranking between masters.”
Getz also has her reservations about the cult of the No. 1 pianist, though as a concert organizer she well understands the power of the superstar.
“Lang Lang is beyond a superstar, he is a celebrity. I put him in the category of a Miley Cyrus. Young people today worship celebrities, and I wouldn’t be surprised if half the audience on Friday night aren’t there just because they want to be in the presence of a celebrity. There’s nothing wrong with that. If he gets through to five or 10 of them, and turns them on to classical music, he’s done something worthwhile.”
Lang Lang agrees that classical music continues to have an impact.
“A generation ago people used to worry that classical music would eventually die out, but now we know this is definitely not the case. The tradition has been invigorated by Asian performers, and now there are audiences all over that thrive on classical music. I see it as a win-win situation.”
As for the responsibilities of being a superstar and the toll his jet-set lifestyle takes, Lang Lang said he makes sure he gets a modicum of rest and study (“A month in the summer, and in February”), but the sheer joy and exhilaration of playing concerts is still a thrill, although he doesn’t like having to do so much flying.
As for payback: “The Lang Lang International Foundation is geared toward looking at classical music education for kids, in the schools.
“My biggest passion is still playing on the stage, but I see it as my responsibility to support education, out of gratitude for those who helped me when I was young.”
Special to The Sun
