Artists at Google: Lang Lang | "The Chopin Album" - VoiceTube: Learn English through videos!

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[APPLAUSE]
LANG LANG: Good morning.
Thanks for being here.
I'm very happy to be here for the second time.
But the first time I wasn't on this stage.
I was just visiting the office.
It's a very cool office, I must say.
And so I prepared some morning songs for you to wake up.
So a few Chopin pieces.
I will start with one of the very beautiful nocturnes and
then one or two etudes, and then a Chopin waltz.
So hopefully, we will get really waked after 20 minutes
of performance.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
[PIANO MUSIC - CHOPIN]
[APPLAUSE]
JEFF SPURGEON: Hello, I'm Jeff Spurgeon from WQXR, New York's
classical station, 105.9 FM, online at wqxr.org.
You may not know, because nobody told you,
this is Lang Lang.
He's a classical pianist, reasonably well known
all over the globe.
And it's quite a wonderful thing to hear you play.
Let me ask you, what was your warm-up for
this just this morning?
Did you warm up this morning?
When's the last time you touched a piano?
LANG LANG: I didn't warm up.
I woke up around 10:20.
I'm like, oh, god.
And we were running like crazy down the street to get here.
And I'm really grateful that you are here
today waiting for me.
And thank you very much.
JEFF SPURGEON: It's really wonderful.
[APPLAUSE]
JEFF SPURGEON: It's extraordinary to have all that
music just in your hands, just at your command.
But that's what you do.
LANG LANG: By the way, Rubinstein said-- one of the
greatest pianists.
And he said he has 60 piano concertos in his head.
And basically during his 70s or 80s he said
just call me up.
Wake me up in the middle of the night-- like,
let's say, 4:00 AM--
and I can play whatever piece you want, in concert level.
JEFF SPURGEON: Well, I believe it.
But so can you.
But so can you.
He had a little more practice over time than you so far.
But you'll be there.
In China, Lang Lang is credited with influencing some
40 million kids to take up classical piano.
Now, I know that 40 million is not maybe a
huge number at Google.
But still, it's a reasonably large number of people to
persuade to take up.
And when you think about all the pianos that have to be
made, and all the music that has to be printed, and all the
lessons that have to be paid for, I would say that you are,
without question, classical music's greatest job creator.
[LAUGHTER]
JEFF SPURGEON: I don't think there's anybody who's going to
do more than that than you are.
Lang Lang's new album on the Sony label is "The Chopin
Album." It contains, at its heart, the Opus 25 set of a
dozen etudes, studies for piano, that you have been
studying since I think you were what?
Eight is when you started to play those things?
LANG LANG: Yeah, I started to play the Chopin
Etudes when I was eight.
JEFF SPURGEON: Took them on the road when
you were 12 or 13?
LANG LANG: Yeah, I played the complete etudes when I was 13.
JEFF SPURGEON: Right.
LANG LANG: And it was very tiring to play those pieces.
I mean, it drives me nuts and drives my neighbors nuts.
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: I really feel bad about it, you know.
Recently, I started practicing at my apartment here and
started practicing the Chopin etudes.
And then my neighbor knocked at my door.
And he said could you stop?
Could you stop?
JEFF SPURGEON: Really?
Did they really?
You're making that up.
LANG LANG: No, no.
I mean, there's a one neighbor who knows who I am, so she's
always like, oh, that's really wonderful.
But then another neighbor, I think, living downstairs--
because I always like to practice after 11:00 to find
inspiration.
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: And this lady, I think she
hate me all the time.
JEFF SPURGEON: So you've been playing these since you were
eight, playing them in public since you were 13.
Why record them now?
Why not a little earlier?
Why not wait a couple more years?
Maybe the wine will mellow a little more in the bottle.
Why decide to do these now?
LANG LANG: Ever since I'm 30, I like to do some more
repertoire which I played a lot when I was a kid and also
putting in some new pieces.
I actually thought to do the 24 etudes to
complete the cycle.
But actually, I thought maybe I should do something, not
just technical pieces, but also very artistic pieces
combined for the Chopin first solo for me to
record and also to hear.
I was actually watching the video that I did when I was
13, playing the complete etudes.
And I find a few wrong notes.
I'm like, yeah.
But I'm now playing a few of those pieces, like the "Winter
Wind" and the "Ocean" etudes.
Now it feels slightly easier--
slightly.
So that seems like a good sign.
After 17 years of practice, my technique is going somewhere.
But more importantly, it's the musical sense.
There are so many new things I'm trying to interpret in
this album to try to find different colors, like you
have here, different levels of colors and the combination of
the styling of Chopin, and the romantic period of repertoire.
And especially last year, I did Liszt.
So I thought this was a nice momentum to do Chopin.
So next year will be very different.
JEFF SPURGEON: What's next year?
LANG LANG: Next year I will do Prokofiev and Bartok.
JEFF SPURGEON: Wow.
OK.
LANG LANG: So it's very, very different--
JEFF SPURGEON: Gnarly.
LANG LANG: --approach.
JEFF SPURGEON: Yeah, totally different.
A totally different world.
There's some unusual pieces on this album.
The "Andante spianato" and "Grande polonaise." big
favorite of yours, done with orchestra sometimes, but
there's the solo version.
You've always liked this piece?
LANG LANG: Not really.
I mean, when I was a kid, I hated it.
Because no matter how great the works are, if there are so
many pianists playing the same piece not at a very good
level, then you will feel kind of bored.
And so that exactly happened when I was a kid.
I heard so many interpretations of this piece
that I got totally overwhelmed.
And I didn't like it.
Then I came to America.
And I studied at Curtis in Philadelphia.
Do you know the Philly cheese steak?
It's pretty good.
Anyway, in Philadelphia, a boy from Kiev, he also studied
with the same teacher as me, Gary Graffman.
JEFF SPURGEON: Gary Graffman.
LANG LANG: And he played in the student recital.
I was shocked by his playing.
I'm like, wow, this piece is spectacular.
And then I started to loving this piece.
Thanks to him, of course.
And so sometimes one amazing performance really changes
your entire view of a work.
And that's what happened in the "Spianato" and "Grande
polonaise."
JEFF SPURGEON: Nocturnes.
You played, actually, a wonderful cross-section of the
album just a few minutes ago.
There's a piece on this album.
It's the last selection.
It's called "Tristesse." And it features a singer named Oh
Land who is from--
LANG LANG: Sweden, I think.
JEFF SPURGEON: Sweden.
She lives in Williamsburg, because most people do.
LANG LANG: Yeah, Brooklyn's getting big.
JEFF SPURGEON: It's beautiful.
And can you tell me the story of this?
Because it's from a film, "Tristesse."
LANG LANG: Right.
We did a film during the Chopin year called "The Flying
Machine." So it's basically adapted to a novel about
Poland today.
And it's compared to Chopin's days.
So actually, I was an actor in this movie.
And my partner was Heather Graham from "Austin
Powers," the girl.
JEFF SPURGEON: Yeah, Heather Graham.
Many, many faces lit up when you said those words.
LANG LANG: But that one was pretty classic.
I need a hungover thing.
I miss the baby, yeah.
And so that film, actually, was quite inspiring, because
it was Chopin's music, and takes the
journey of a piano, actually.
The piano became a flying machine.
So we take the kids over the world.
And so the theme song, we actually thought the
"Tristesse," which is Opus 10, Number 3, etudes, is such a
beautiful melody, which I played second to the last.
And so we transcribed that to the theme song, so we got this
beautiful voice.
Her name is pretty fun, Oh Land.
So in the beginning, I didn't know if it's a he or a she.
Then when I heard the voice, I most certainly said, it's she.
And she did a wonderful job.
JEFF SPURGEON: It's a sweet song.
And a lot of popular songs have been
written on Chopin themes.
LANG LANG: Yes.
JEFF SPURGEON: And this is another one, which is great.
Your foundation, let's talk about that because that's such
a big deal.
The Lang Lang International Music Foundation, it's going
great guns.
You had some kids, I think, from part of that program on
"The Tonight Show" recently?
LANG LANG: Yeah, two weeks ago, I was on Jay Leno.
JEFF SPURGEON: Four minutes of classical music on network
television.
It was extraordinary.
It was four whole minutes.
It was amazing.
LANG LANG: These days, it's hard to get
classical music on--
JEFF SPURGEON: That's exactly right.
LANG LANG: Anyway, I mean, Jay is a good friend.
And I mean, his name is Jay Jay now, you know, after--
JEFF SPURGEON: After Lang Lang.
Right, sure.
LANG LANG: Oh, my god, he has 400 cars.
Anyway, let's not talk about that.
So we actually had a very fortunate selection of
wonderful tenants from the Los Angeles area.
I mean, some of the kids, actually, I know them before,
because they performed with me, my foundation, actually.
JEFF SPURGEON: They were young kids, too.
There were 10 of them.
So Lang Lang played.
You play some "La companella," and the E-flat waltz that you
heard part of here.
And then 10 kids, five other Steinways around in the room,
and they all joined you for the Mozart "Ronda alla Turca."
LANG LANG: Yeah, Turkish March [HUMS TUNE].
I'm sure you know it.
And it was so beautiful that I really enjoyed
working with them.
But the way they played, it was magnificent.
JEFF SPURGEON: Yeah, very sweet.
LANG LANG: And I mean, I thought everyone watching our
next generation perform, it's a special moment.
And for me, it's very inspiring.
And that's what our foundation is wanting to do, to work with
the next generation of artists, and helping them to
support them to achieve their dreams, just like many of the
mentor helped me when I was very young.
JEFF SPURGEON: So it's about helping the next generation,
not necessarily about classical music.
I mean, it is classical focused, I think.
LANG LANG: Yeah, it will be a focus on classical and piano.
But at the same time, we will also do some event, let's say,
with the Grammy people and VHI people.
So we are trying to break the boundaries through this
wonderful project.
And I created this 101 Pianists project.
JEFF SPURGEON: You have 100 pianists with you on stage?
Is that the idea?
LANG LANG: Yes.
And 50 pianos, so people play four hands.
So the reason is that--
JEFF SPURGEON: That's also a great job creator, too, just
for the movers.
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: Yeah, the movers were quite happy about it.
But the reason we want it is that as a pianist, we always
practice by ourselves.
It's sometimes very lonely.
You are in a dark room, much darker than this room.
And I practice hours, hours.
And it's hard training.
And for kids, it's important to have a partner.
So two kids on one piano, so they can talk a little bit.
It's like doing your homework, that type of thing.
And then the teachers can teach
them how to play together.
And in the end, we all get together and play
and enjoy the music.
JEFF SPURGEON: The music-making, yeah.
October 30 at Carnegie Hall, the Lang Lang International
Music Foundation is having a big benefit concert in the
evening with Joshua Bell, and Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the
formerly mentioned Oh Land.
LANG LANG: And Alec Baldwin.
JEFF SPURGEON: And Alec Baldwin will be the host.
And some scholars.
So what's going to happen that night?
Just a big bunch of music making, I guess?
LANG LANG: Yeah.
JEFF SPURGEON: Do you collaborate with everybody?
Are you doing something with Dee Dee Bridgewater?
LANG LANG: Yeah.
So here I start to play some Chopin.
And then with Josh, we play the Grieg Piano Sonata.
JEFF SPURGEON: Is he Jay Jay also to you?
LANG LANG: Josh Josh.
JEFF SPURGEON: OK, just checking.
LANG LANG: And then in the second half, we start with
four hands, six hands, eight hands, and 10 hands.
JEFF SPURGEON: On one piano?
LANG LANG: No.
JEFF SPURGEON: OK, just checking.
Just checking.
LANG LANG: Yeah, 10 hands on one piano.
JEFF SPURGEON: Well, you'd know each other very well by
the end of the piece.
You'd be very familiar.
LANG LANG: Sounds like subway in New York, yeah?
JEFF SPURGEON: That's right.
You are a master.
At the age of 30, you are a master
recognized around the globe.
But are you still a student?
And do you see any of your old teachers?
Gary Graffman was your teacher at Curtis.
I know you've done a little bit of
work with Daniel Barenboim.
LANG LANG: Absolutely.
JEFF SPURGEON: When you see them, do you play for them and
ask them for their thoughts?
Is it a lesson?
Do they give you notes?
How does it work at this level where you are in your stage of
artistry with these older mentors, I
guess you'd call them?
LANG LANG: Yeah, I mean, my teachers were--
and still are--
Gary Graffman, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Barenboim.
And they helped me tremendously, not just
technically.
JEFF SPURGEON: I was going to say, they're not going to say,
you missed the E-flat on the 40th bar.
That's not what they do.
So what do they--
LANG LANG: Well, sometimes they do that, too.
But because the great musicians, like those names,
they are much more focused on the understanding and also on
the traditional interpretations, so they will
show you how the traditional sound.
And then we will start discussing about new
possibilities of how we recreate those moments, the
traditional lines.
And then they will help me to find out my ways.
I will start to explore some of my ideas on those passages
how I'm going to do it.
And obviously, we know that in music, there are certain
styles, but there's not certain rules.
And so basically there are a lot of alternatives.
And the important thing is how to organize the alternatives
and how to balance them, having a right pause.
And this is the challenge because you can do a lot of
interpretations.
But even it doesn't balance, if it in the end doesn't make
sense, then all those feelings are wasted.
And so first, you should explore, and then you need to
limit your interpretations into certain ways.
And then in the concert, you start everything new again,
try to get inspired from the actual stage and to recreate
new feelings, new emotion, but aware of the tradition lines,
which will hold every interpretation in the right
speed and right pause.
JEFF SPURGEON: Well, you're part of that tradition.
You're recreating it and making it
new at the same time.
I should say, too, that there's time for questions
from all of you here at the end a little bit.
Just think of your question.
LANG LANG: Hold the line, hold the line.
JEFF SPURGEON: Yeah, exactly.
I've wondered about the transition from Chinese
culture to Western culture for you in music as well, because
you grew up playing this music for a very long time.
For me, Chinese classical music is a little bit strange
and maybe a little bit difficult to listen to,
because I haven't had as much experience with it.
You've been steeped in both traditions.
Do you hear them the same way?
Or do you switch sort of from one to another?
And you've put them together, too.
Because you've done lots of piano transcriptions of
traditional Chinese pieces that weren't
thought of on the piano.
LANG LANG: Just like this, when you hear American music,
when you hear German music, when you hear African music,
it's different.
But at the same time, it's all called music.
It's like language, you know.
In the end we try to expressing similar subjects,
similar feelings, but using different wording and
different language.
That's a bit like the music world.
I mean, obviously, you need to switch fast with the taste of
music making.
But in the end of the day, for example, I grew up both in
Chinese traditional music and the Western classical, because
my father plays erhu, which is Chinese melody.
Recently, I found a different interesting thing of the
difference between a fork and chopsticks and the difference
between erhu and violin.
Do you see the similarity?
JEFF SPURGEON: Yeah, I understand.
LANG LANG: The erhu has two strings.
And violin has four.
And chopsticks--
JEFF SPURGEON: Two.
A fork, usually four tines.
LANG LANG: So here I go.
So that's the difference.
JEFF SPURGEON: Very good.
That's a very good answer.
I mean, one of the things with your foundation, you're
helping people to explore classical music.
Do you feel like you can make people like classical music?
I feel like sometimes it's a sales job.
Nobody says, oh my god, you've got to hear rock and roll.
You won't believe what this stuff is.
Nobody says it.
But about classical music, sometimes people say, oh,
well, if you haven't heard it, you should maybe listen to a
little bit of it.
Do you feel like you're ever having to sell
it, the idea of it?
LANG LANG: I mean, one experience I
got was pretty funny--
two experiences.
The first was seen in America, and then I'll
talk about China later.
So first, in America.
I came when I was 15.
And then I was in a regular high school in Philadelphia,
all those dudes and [INAUDIBLE], you know.
And then they asked me, what do you do
here in this country?
Oh, I'm studying classical music.
They were like, classical music?
What is that?
Oh, I know, I know.
Are you playing the dudes who's already passed
like 500 years ago?
You do his work?
I say, yeah, it's kind of like that.
I said, just think about Shakespeare.
He's dead for many years.
He passed, but still his work is a classic, right?
So then I know we have a serious problem.
And then a few years later, I went back
to China for concerts.
And then during the CD signings, this one guy came
and was like, I saw that you are recording the
same label as Mozart.
So you see, it's totally opposite.
But somehow, it's quite funny.
So in a way, that gives us the room to have some work to do.
But I don't think we need to sell this art because
classical music is so wonderful.
People sometimes don't know it.
That's it.
We just need to--
using social media networks and platforms.
JEFF SPURGEON: Can you give an example of social media?
Just kidding.
Just kidding.
It's Google Talks.
It's Google.
It's Google Talks.
Sorry.
LANG LANG: Yeah, I mean, remember a few years ago,
YouTube had a YouTube symphony orchestra competition?
And it was a big phenomenon on the internet.
And I had a great privilege to be the
ambassador for the project.
And so in the future--
today even, when I tweet or Facebooking--
I start to share some of the musical thoughts, not just
talking about food and movies, but to share a little bit of
feelings to the music I play.
And then I share some of my favorite links of the great
musicians perform to try to inspire some fans to listen.
JEFF SPURGEON: Very good, thank you.
All right.
There are microphones over there.
So if you have questions, please go to a microphone.
And we'll line you up and knock you down with Lang Lang.
AUDIENCE: Hi.
My name's Samir.
I'm here at Google.
I am a father.
I've got a five-year-old and a two-year-old.
And for better or worse, my kids are into popular music.
LANG LANG: Good for you.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
I'm wondering--
so making them sit down and listen to better music, to
classical music, feels a little heavy handed.
LANG LANG: Oh, thank you very much.
AUDIENCE: It feels a little heavy handed.
I was wondering, what have you found really works with kids
to get them engaged and interested in new kinds of
music, in particular, classical music?
LANG LANG: There are a few composers which I felt quite
have a really good connection to kids.
One is Tchaikovsky, pieces like "Nutcracker" or "Swan
Lake." And Mozart, Mozart probably is the best composer
to inspire the kids.
And Chopin, also, I would say is melodic.
But you wouldn't start with Wagner's "Ring Cycle," right?
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: That's a little hard.
So good luck.
Maybe there's some new Lady Gaga coming out.
[LAUGHTER]
AUDIENCE: Hi, quick question.
Along those lines, I have a four and a six-year-old.
LANG LANG: Baby time.
AUDIENCE: And they just start and stop things, especially my
six-year-old daughter.
She's interested now in piano.
How do I get that going, keep that going?
Because I imagine there will be challenges along the way.
LANG LANG: First, get a good teacher.
That's very important.
And very important, if you have time, please take her to
a kids event, a kids concert.
I'm sure Carnegie does a lot of those
things and Lincoln Center.
Or take her to some of the concerts
that other kids perform.
Because for me, it was the same.
The reason I start liking performance when I was very
young is because all my friends were musicians, and
they were actually playing something.
And we can actually play together, like, two pianos or
three pianos.
Or violin, play a trio, a little trio.
And music's like language.
We need a communication.
We need to use our language.
You know, if you learn a new language, if you don't use it,
you're not interested, and you forget about it.
So communication is very important.
JEFF SPURGEON: I know there's at least one more question.
AUDIENCE: I think I could just ask here.
JEFF SPURGEON: I'll repeat it.
AUDIENCE: First of all, as a Chinese, I am very proud of
your-- you know, everything.
LANG LANG: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: Like [INAUDIBLE].
Really good job.
My question is do you have any plan to do some record like
Bach or something more classic like "Goldberg--"
LANG LANG: "Goldberg Variation."
AUDIENCE: Yeah, like like that.
JEFF SPURGEON: OK, so the question was what are your
plans for your next recordings?
And will you do Bach, specifically?
LANG LANG: I mean, I love Bach.
When I was a kid, I played Bach's work every week.
And I tried to memorize a work by Bach every
week to train my brain.
By the way, after that, you can remember every cellphone
number you want.
And Bach is really, really challenging, but incredible.
Certainly, I would love to record the "Goldberg
Variation." Certainly, I will do more
classic repertoire records.
But it needs to be balanced.
So this year and last year I did all the romantics.
And then next year, it will be contemporary.
And then, you know.
So I'm trying to balance the recordings.
Thanks for bringing the "Goldberg," by the way.
AUDIENCE: So there's a lot of talk about--
sorry, I'm very tall.
There's a lot of talk about bringing
classical music to children.
And I am, in some sense, a product of that.
My father went way out of his way to play classical music.
He really enjoyed it.
And I hated it as a kid.
And I'm here.
So that's obviously no longer the case.
But I studied, or at least I was taught, classical guitar.
And that lapsed for several years while I went to
university.
And now I'm here, so I guess the lapse was a little
worthwhile.
But what advice would you give towards adults who have a
musical sensibility, who have musical appreciation and, I
guess in my case, have or, in more general cases, do not
have some degree of musical training?
Because children are taught at a very early age to begin to
play classical music or any music in general.
Is there any fear that I should have in terms of lack
of dexterity, I guess, plasticity of mind?
What advice would you give towards adults who want to
begin to hopefully, with a lag, reach the kind of level
you operate on?
LANG LANG: You are getting deep.
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: Wow.
Adult.
I mean, there's an app called Magic Piano, which I
co-produced.
If you feel difficult to play the real piano, try that.
It will be easier to play.
Because somehow it's played by itself.
And you can certainly buy a piano which has a kind of
high-tech disk.
And then you just push whoever's Chopin, whoever's
Tchaikovsky, whoever's Beethoven.
And then you can maybe start to see the positions down on
the piano and try to follow it.
But again, I am really welcoming of adults actually
learning an instrument.
And especially, you had a musical
training before, right?
So for you, it will be very easy, actually, to pick it up
again, the great work you did before.
And maybe now when you do it, you will feel more
comfortable.
Maybe you will like it more than when you were a kid.
And also, you know, classical guitar is pretty cool.
And I'm sure when you play, you get some
new dates or something.
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: I mean, that's very encouraging.
I know some of my friends, who are adults, study piano.
I say, why are you doing it?
Oh, I to impress the girls.
So I know lots of those people.
So it's good encouragement.
JEFF SPURGEON: Choice of instrument could be important
for that, too.
You'll get more dates with a guitar, probably,
than with an accordion.
Just a thought.
LANG LANG: Guitar is very popular these days.
Probably one of the instruments I can think of
more popular than piano, it's probably guitar.
I would like to learn it, actually.
Guitar, I mean.
Maybe I should learn some classical
guitar skill from you.
AUDIENCE: I'd love to give you a--
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: I got new lessons from you.
AUDIENCE: So the point is a competent teacher, right?
LANG LANG: Great.
Thank you.
JEFF SPURGEON: Yes, sir?
AUDIENCE: I wanted to ask, when you memorize a piece, is
it only technical?
Or do you also memorize how you feel?
Is it like, before you start playing, do you have to get
into the emotion of that piece?
Or is just the music getting you there when you hear it?
LANG LANG: First, sometimes I hear great music in my ear.
Whether it's any type of music, I'm just trying to
memorize the melodies first.
And I want to somehow play it on the piano.
But some work, I know it for many years, and it doesn't
mean that you start to love those repertoire right away.
Some pieces take a few years to digest.
And then you're like, wow, I should do it.
So first comes to the general stuff.
You read a score after you're really liking this piece.
You want to learn it, right?
So you learn it from the score, and you play simply,
whether just play by your right hand or putting it
together, practice.
And after that, you are trying to analyzing the piece and
using everything you learned from the past.
And your head should be like a multimedia screen.
Try to pick a lot of elements and try to put those things
inside of the music.
Because the most important thing is not the note.
It's the things behind the note, the
meaning behind the note.
So the more meanings you're getting, it's better for the
first work session.
And then later, you're just trying to
balance the right ones.
And you will know the right ones when you are ready.
In the beginning, you don't really know.
So you try a lot of things.
And then later you will know, wow, this will not work.
Because this maybe doesn't fit in the style.
And then later, after you really understand the dynamics
of the score, you start to recreate things.
And then you play for several of your teachers or your
colleagues to get more ideas.
And then you start looking into this work again.
And then you start performance.
And when you perform, every day, every time, you should
try different things.
And after a year, I think, you are ready for recording.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
LANG LANG: Lot of alternatives.
AUDIENCE: Hi, my name is Zettai.
I work in Google.
And I actually have the opposite problem from Samir
with my two-and-a-half year-old daughter.
She actually loves classical music.
LANG LANG: Yay!
Here we go, yeah.
AUDIENCE: She even goes to sleep while hearing Andrea
Bocelli and you playing there, which is very nice.
And I have a different question.
I want to learn playing the piano myself as well.
LANG LANG: Wonderful.
Wonderful.
That's a great idea, yeah.
AUDIENCE: I'm pretty old, you know.
I'm 35.
And my question is actually two part.
First of all, I heard about something
called the Suzuki method.
But I heard conflicting opinions about it.
So I wonder what's your take on it.
And the second part, is it--
how do you say it?
Real ambition to learn to play the piano at such a late age?
And to do even something minimum?
LANG LANG: It's never too late.
Suzuki method, actually, I didn't know that method when I
was practicing.
And then later, I know the method.
But I've been brought up by just playing scales.
So I didn't really have any method.
Try this method or not.
I think that maybe it's important for some people.
But it's not necessary to be focused on one method.
Because in the end of the day, there's so many ways of
playing piano.
And you don't want to start with one thing in the very
beginning, and you're just stuck with it.
AUDIENCE: Yeah, but I understood the Suzuki method,
both the father and the child are learning together.
I thought that's what--
LANG LANG: My father also did that.
But it was a different kind of method.
He's playing, like, the strict method.
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: It doesn't matter.
But I'm sure it will work for many people.
I just didn't brought up by that method.
But this is a very challenging way to know what is the real,
right beginning method for kids to learn piano?
We'll still trying to figure that out.
So once I know more about it, I let you know.
But seriously, you can always learn piano, no
matter how old you are.
I have a doctor friend.
He's a wonderful doctor, lives in Germany.
And he's now, I think, 50 years old.
JEFF SPURGEON: Good god, 50.
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: Because he always loved the piano.
But he never had money to learn when he was very young.
He was focusing on medicine, you know.
Then somehow, after he became a very successful doctor, he
wanted to establish his childhood dream, which is to
play beautiful songs.
And so he started to learn piano when he turned 42.
Seriously.
And he found a teacher who was very young, like, early 20s,
but a very good guy, and a very solid pianist.
So he started learning from him.
And you what?
This 50-year-old doctor just made his family archive
recording of 10 of his favorite pieces, including the
Schumann Traumerei, "Dreaming," including the
Schubert Impromptus, including Chopin's Waltz, including
Liszt Consolation.
So this guy's only learned a few years, but he has his
golden Top 10.
So he can open a radio show, you know, Top 10.
And he plays very beautiful.
I mean, the technique maybe is not really there.
But he's certainly put his emotions there, which is more
important, somehow.
And so I'm sure you can do the same.
And I'm sure you're much younger than he is.
JEFF SPURGEON: One more question.
You.
AUDIENCE: So given the level of evocativeness that you
achieve, I have to wonder, do you have some sort of
meditative practice other than at the piano?
What are your favorite ways to tap into, say, greater levels
of humanity?
LANG LANG: I mean, the first really important thing is
taking naps.
[LAUGHTER]
LANG LANG: You're talking about meditation, right.
I mean, that's the first thing that come to my mind.
Because I'm such a night person, I don't
sleep well in the night.
I just get over in my mind with some strange ideas.
But during the day, I like to take a one-hour nap, and then
somehow that calms me down, and I feel great.
And also, I think the best way for ourselves to get ready
mentally is reading books.
Read as much as you can.
And also, after reading, take a little walk in a park.
Or go to museums.
This, for me, is the best way of learning new
knowledge and relaxing.
And this makes me a much better
musician and a human being.
JEFF SPURGEON: Thank you.
And thanks to everyone here at Google today.
And thanks to Lang Lang.
Great.
LANG LANG: Thanks.
Thank you.