You can tell Lang Lang is an extremely confident young man simply by talking to him over the phone. He speaks firmly in an American accent without pauses. The call from Geneva is not so clear, but it cannot hide this music prodigy's ambition to have the whole world at his feet.
Lang is touring Europe, and will play his first solo recital in Hong Kong on August 28, after it was rescheduled from April. Lang, who has just released his debut solo album Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn First Piano Concertos, is excited about the show, though this will be his fourth trip to Hong Kong.
'This is my first solo recital in Hong Kong. It should be fun,' Lang tells SYP. 'I have prepared pieces from the Classical period, as well as Tan Dun's [Oscar winner for best music score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon] compositions, which will be the first time they have been performed in Hong Kong.'
For Lang, playing the piano is nothing but a pleasure. Born in Shenyang, China, Lang was only five when he took the top spot at his debut public recital at the Shenyang Piano Competition. When he was 13 he won the first prize at the Second Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians Competition in Japan. He played for former China president, Jiang Zemin, the following year. Lang moved to Philadelphia in the US in 1997 to further his musical knowledge at the Curtis Institute. Before finishing his studies, he had toured with world-class orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony.
He says his mission is to promote classical music among the young. Though he sometimes listens to Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, he still thinks classical is best.
'There is a lot of thinking involved, you don't simply play the notes. You have to bring your own personality to develop the pieces,' Lang says. 'It's just like reading Shakespeare's works. They were written a long time ago, but each individual artist has a different sensitivity towards the piece and gives his own interpretation.'