Lang Lang
Internationally renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang joins Kirsty Young to choose his eight Desert Island Discs.
Kirsty Young's castaway is the Chinese pianist Lang Lang.
He was five years old when he gave his first public recital in front of an audience of 800 people. It was a pivotal moment and from that point on it was clear where his future lay. His parents were both musical too but, during the cultural revolution, had not been able to pursue their own ambitions. Lang Lang was born under the one-child rule and so he was, he says, their only chance. Their aim was that he should become the No.1 pianist in China and in the years that followed, family life was sacrificed to that end.
Still only 28 years old, he is a phenomenon in the classical music world - he played to a global audience of four and a half billion people for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and, when he returns to China, he says he is mobbed in the streets.
Producer: Leanne Buckle
Record: The Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 played by Vladimir Horowitz
Book: The Analects of Confucius.
Luxury: Two feathered pillows.
Last on
Music Played
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Michael Jackson
Thriller
- Thriller.
- Epic.
-
Frédéric Chopin
Waltz in D flat major, Op. 64/1 'Minute Waltz'
- Chopin: Piano Works.
- RCA.
-
Eduardo Di Capua
O sole mio
Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Giancarlo Chiaramello. Conductor: Giancarlo Chiaramello.- Pavarotti in Hyde Park.
- Decca.
-
Frédéric Chopin
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor - 2nd movement
- Perahia plays Chopin.
- Sony.
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor
- Piano Concerto No.1..
- RCA.
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Castaway's Favourite
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Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
- Horowitz: Brahms: Concerto No.2 ….
- RCA.
-
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Lang Lang
The Yellow River in Wrath from the Yellow River Piano Concerto
Conductor: Xian Xinghai.- Lang Lang: Dragon Songs.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
-
Leonard Bernstein
Rhapsody in Blue
- Gershwin:Rhapsody: Bernstein.
- CBS.
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Book Choice
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The Analects of Confucius - Confucius
Luxury Choice
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Two feathered pillows
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Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Kirsty Young |
Interviewed Guest | Lang Lang |
Broadcasts
- Sun 31 Oct 2010 11:15´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4
- Fri 5 Nov 2010 09:00´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4
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