Celebrated pianist Lang Lang was in good spirits when he attended a private dinner party on Tuesday at the Island Shangri-La hotel. He even performed a cheerful Chopin waltz in A flat major for guests including Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen and fellow pianist Gary Graffman - Lang Lang's teacher since he was 15 years old. 'I didn't know he was going to play until three minutes before he went on stage,' said Paul Tam, Hong Kong Philharmonic's marketing director and MC for the night.

The party was held to congratulate Lang Lang on last night's sell-out concert with the Philharmonic and to raise funds for the orchestra. At the party, in the hotel's ballroom, the charismatic concert pianist also posed happily for photographs with mostly female fans and signed autographs.

It's understandable that Lang Lang was in such high spirits - he recently signed up with Sony Classical for a reportedly unprecedented fee in the classical music field. He denied the recording contract earned him as much as US$3 million, saying he was more excited about the recording opportunities. 'No, that's not true. What I think is most amazing is that my new records will come out in hi-tech formats like Blu-ray,' he said.