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The famous (I know he's famous because he said so) Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang (pronounced something like Lwong Lwong by the interviewer) was interviewed on The Fox News Channel's morning program "Fox and Friends" this morning - usually a very watchable program, but not always.

He was interviewed because (1) he usually plays without too many obvious mistakes, most of which are hidden by his physical gymnastics at the keyboard and by his facial distortions driven by deep-seated mysterious emotions; (2) he's world famous (or at least fairly well known by visitors to the Pianist's Corner Forum at Piano World;) and (3) he was performing during the State Dinner honoring the visit of Chinese Dictator President Hu Jintao (sp.?) at the White House this week.

During the interview he was described as a prodigy (he's currently 28 years old ), asked if he considers himself the "Justin Beiber of Beethoven" (who the heck is this Beiber dude I keep hearing about?), whether or not he was going to put a tip jar on his piano during his State Dinner performance (he said he never tried that before, but that it could be lucrative ), and what he thought he might be doing if he wasn't a (self-described) world-famous concert pianist, which drew a blank stare and a few mumbled, incoherent words from Lang (to use his first name, if I may) as if he had never, ever thought about it and had no idea there was anything else to do in life. He did play a little during the interview - I think it was something by a hot pop star - maybe this Lady Gaga person, or that Beiber guy, if that's what he is/does.

So much for high-level, penetrating, classy interviews pandering to "inquiring minds that want to know" and so much for respect for rare, superhuman talent. But Lang (to repectfully refer to him by his last name) is a great role model for all of us Adult Beginners who gyrate and emote as much as him and who have hopes and aspirations of some day playing on and being interviewed by somebody's morning show - even if it's only the morning announments program at the local elementary school.

Hope you had your DVR programmed if you couldn't be there.

JF

BTW - the Chinese President's first name Hu is pronounced "who", but please, no jokes about "Who (Hu) is President of China?"

I find it so odd that this person is such a source of negativity here. It is as if this place has a Lang Lang talisman hanging around its neck and refuses to take it off because they like the way it chafes their skin.

Not so - Mr. Lang is more like a positve source of inspiration for pianistic endeavors (and creative media analysis). Or did you mean John Frank?



Any idea where one can acquire one of those?

Honestly, the only objection to Lang that I have is that he's allowed himself to become just a tad "plus-sized" (I'm guily of this too - the only thing we have in common when we sit down at the piano) and his hair always seems to be unruly, if not in an actual dishevelled state - but then yours would be too if you often played standing on your head

JF

He upsets the serious pianists here with his overboard theatrics. They wish he could be more dignified like their hero Glenn Gould.

Hi,

Been reading the adult beginner forum for awhile, first time I've felt compelled to reply to something.

This is a pretty sad pathetic post, full of bitterness and jealousy and tinged with racism and political opinion. Spending the time to write this degrades you, John Frank.

Lang Lang IS world-famous; that isn't a self-description, it is simply a fact. He might not be the single best pianist in the world but he's definitely in the top .0001%.

He might not be everyone's cup of tea but check out his recording of the 3rd Mvt. for Mendellsohn's first Piano Concerto; he instills it with a fun sense of playfulness many other recordings of it lack. Or the Rondo from Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto; Lang brings a certain sense of whimsy to a lot of his repertoire and I enjoy the energy.

This forum is about love for piano. No one wants to hear about political opinions and no one wants to read bitter, jealous rants on famous pianists.

First of all, Fox and Friends is the single most unintellectual, biased, mind-numbingly obnoxious show ever to exist on television.

Second. Lang Lang and Liberace weren't the most skilled pianists of their time, but they were showmen who the audience loved. Good for them and may there be more of them.

Sad and pathetic post? I thought it was enlightening, informative and amusing - if not necessarily delightfully entertaning - now, one of us is way off, and since I wrote it I'm the authority on it's proper interpretation - so there!

Full of bitterness and jealousy? No way! However, it is loaded with lots of satire and humor of a nonsensical sort - or at least that was my intention. I understand that one of Lang's chief complaints about some of his more ardent fans is that they just don't have a sense of humor...

Racism? What racism? There's no freakin' racism. Damn, I never thought of that. But, I'll try to include some in my next post about Lang - just to give you some actual real evidence

Poliical opinion? What political opinion. You mean about Hu? Who cares about Hu? I was primarily trying to point out how simple-minded the interview was - and threw in a few jabs at Lang just for the fun of it (and to shamelessly curry favor with all of his many detractors over at the Pianist's Corner).

JF

I fully agree - but Liberace was and still is the king when it comes to showmanship (he was classically trained as a pianist also) - Lang is a mere piker by comparison and still has much to learn about showmanship.

JF

It's unfortunate that most people who say Láng Lǎng's name mispronounce it. Spelled or said correctly his surname and given name don't sound or look the same. I guess that is the problem expecting people who speak non-tonal languages to how important tones are: piano players surely won't make that mistake knowing how important a wrong tone can be.

There are more than 20 million young aspiring classical pianists in China. Lang Lang probably is the single most important driving force behind this thirst for western classical piano in the post Chinese cultural revolution era. I dare say you would not find 20 million young aspiring guitarists, or cellists, or anything else. It seem to me that not only is he famous but he is an ambassador of western classical music for the Chinese people. In China, they have Lang Lang as their superstar. In the USA, we have Lady Ga-ga for our youth. I even heard my niece say Lady Ga-ga is such a super pianist! Unless Lang Lang decides to perform in a meat suit, I'd say his eccentricities are fine by me.

What an ignorant, silly, and insulting rant under the guise of "humor". I don't expect much though from FOX "News" viewers however. As ignorant and insulting as the channel itself. I know who Lang Lang is in the piano world. John Frank is a nobody...This post should be removed by moderators..

I think this counts as political opinion. Since you claim you are not mean spirited, I'd take you at your word. I would caution that while there is a tradition of making fun of political leaders in the US, there is no such tradition in much of the rest of the world, and as this is an Internet forum, it is read by the whole world and others may misunderstand your comments. Remember in the Internet era, what you post, you post to the world internationally.

You make a good point. While, I had no problem deciphering the tongue in cheek humor of JF's post, there are others that may/would take this more personal. We should always be aware that this is a global forum.

All very nicely and wisely said - I agree totally.

JF

Ignorant? Not really. Actually, it was fairly well-informed. Silly? Sure - that was the intent. Glad you got that part. Insulting? Hardly - I think even Lang himself would be mildly amused



Compared to Lang - or more than likely alexb - you're correct.
But why do you want the moderator to remove your post?
Did you mean to have him remove the thread?

JF

And I thought playing the piano was meant to be fun.
Chill pill every body and just play.
There will always be someone better and someone not as good as you.
Remember................
Half the world is starving!!!!!!!!!
I am still waiting for Simon Cowell to discover me.
WHO???????????

That's what I said above in one of my posts when I mentioned Lang complaining about some of his more ardent fans who have no sense of humor...

JF

Lang Lang is not on my favorite pianists list, but I have a lot of respect for his achievements. I haven't earn it to criticise him as a pianist in any way until I reach his level of pianistic skills, which is never.

4evr88: Thank you for your intelligible, well reasoned and concise post.

JF: I'm not even smart enough to figure out who you are disparaging in your post. Is it Lang Lang? Fox and Friends? Communists? Dictators? Lydon Johnson? I just can't tell!

I find many of your posts informative and interesting; this one seems like flame bait.

Yeah, really. One can know some things but still come across as ignorant (and insulting). I doubt anyone is amused. I have a pretty good sense of humor, but that was about as funny as FOX is "fair and balanced"..The whole thing was just in poor taste. Seems like most who replied agree..What does this post have to do with this forum? Wrong place mate! Hence the replies.