The J. Lo of the piano

[Phillip Ford]

If you have any interest in classical piano I imagine that you've heard the name Lang Lang ad infinitum over the past year or so.  If you're subscribed to NY Times online here's an article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/02/arts/music/02LANG.html

After hearing several performances on the radio and one in person here in San Francisco, I had to admire his marketing department and at the same time wonder what all the fuss was about.  So, I had to love this quote from the above article:

'Lang Lang has a horde of publicists (10 in all, assigned by his record company and his manager) to create the image of a polished, worldly genius. But not every music critic is swooning over him. John von Rhein, music critic for The Chicago Tribune, called his performance at last year's Ravinia Festival "unacceptably willful." He loved "strutting his stuff," Mr. von Rhein wrote.

Anthony Tommasini, chief music critic of The New York Times, finds his exuberance in both performance and body posture exaggerated and tasteless. "He is a sensation, and it has gone to his head," Mr. Tommasini said. Earl Wild, the American pianist, in a New Yorker interview, was dismissive of all the publicity and called Lang Lang "the J.Lo of the piano." '

Phil Ford



Phillip Ford
Piano Service & Restoration
1777 Yosemite Ave - 130
San Francisco, CA  94124