In April 2010, classical music aficionados in San Francisco were treated to a surprise. Before an audience of hundreds, a beaming pianist ceased his master performance of Flight of the Bumblebees on the piano—and seamlessly continued his performance on the iPad instead. As the pianist devilishly tapped the conductor’s shoulder mid-flight, the audience hushed a bit to watch. The conductor gamely turned and tapped out a guest measure on the computer, and the crowd could barely suppress peals of delighted laughter.
This mischievous virtuoso was Lang Lang, the world-class pianist and showman from Hong Kong. For years Lang Lang has been making waves in the world of classical music both for his magnificent skills and his colorful, crowd-pleasing demeanor. His iPad stunt captured him a new audience of millions as the video rippled across the internet.
Even the origins of his piano career are steeped in his sense of fun and flair for physical humor. Lang Lang proudly admitted that his interests in the piano and classical music were borne out of an early experience watching Tom and Jerry cartoons. Their escalating mayhem set against a backdrop of “Dueling Pianos” struck young Lang Lang’s sense of humor as well as his developing aesthetic.
The life of a young talent is often painted as a meteoric and almost perfunctory rise to fame. Lang Lang confesses that his own was a bit of a struggle. He was expelled by a master tutor at age 9, and contemplated giving up the piano entirely. A sympathetic schoolteacher attempted to cheer him up by suggesting that he play along with Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 10 in C Major, just for fun. The ploy worked, and Lang Lang remembered his love of music.
His enthusiastic, bombastic style is such an integral part of his oeuvre that he’s earned the name “Bang Bang” among his detractors. His fans, however, believe that this is part of his appeal. He has played at Carnegie Hall and at the Nobel Prize Ceremony. But thanks to his larger-than-life style and his iPad, Lang Lang brought his love of music to millions.
