Lang Lang: "It's great to be criticized, it makes you improve artistically"

A dramatic event, a turnaround, and a successful debut.

They are the three climaxes of

, the autobiography of Chinese classical piano star Lang Lang (Shenyang, 1982).

An authoritarian father, who concentrated on his only son, all the artistic desires frustrated by the Cultural Revolution, and who invited him to commit suicide, at the age of nine, after failing to enter the Central Conservatory of Beijing.

A teacher - pianist Gary Graffman - who convinced him, at the age of 15, to change his natural competitive spirit for a more artistic mentality.

And a conductor —Christoph Eschenbach— who invited him to make his debut, at the age of 17, at a charity gala at the Ravinia Festival, where he substituted

to the pianist André Watts and shared the stage with colleagues such as Leon Fleisher, Misha Dichter and Alicia de Larrocha.

That evening, in August 1999, ended at two in the morning with an improvised recital by Lang Lang playing the

by Johann Sebastian Bach

for all of them

.

“At that time I played Bach in a very romantic way, but I remember they liked it.

They thought I was crazy to play by memory and surprisingly such a long and complex work ", recalled Lang Lang, last Tuesday from Shanghai, in a video call with EL PAÍS.

He appeared seated in front of a Steinway and ready to explain any details of his interpretation of this Bach score, to which he returned two decades later.

"For me it has always been a dream to play and record the

, a project that has taken 20 years to materialize," says the media pianist who presents his first recording of his first recording of this Friday, September 4, at the historic Dongjingyuan temple in Beijing. the work on the Deutsche Grammophon label.

A mini recital followed by a question time, which can be seen live through its YouTube channel from 4:00 p.m., Spanish peninsular time.

Lang Lang has made a double recording of the

which is released today on four compact discs along with the usual

channels

.

One version recorded in studio and another live, in the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, where the remains of Bach rest.

“In that recital I found a very special connection with the religious spirit of this music, for example, in variation 25,

, which is like a consolation that purifies the soul.

But there are also others, such as 30,

, where the composer's more human and familiar aspect is shown ”, he assures.

The pianist recognizes the fundamental mark that the famous 1981 recording by Glenn Gould produced on him. “I listened to it when I was 10 years old and it showed me another way of understanding Bach's music, with that tremendous variety of characters, articulations and contrasts.

I never thought it could be played in such a multidimensional and dramatic way. "

He claims not to know the recordings of his compatriot, the pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei, a great specialist in Bach, but expresses his admiration for other versions.

"I have listened to Wanda Landowska, I adore Murray Perahia's recording, also that of my teacher Daniel Barenboim live, in Buenos Aires, and also that of Andreas Staier, for its original and authentic ornamentation".

Precisely, the Chinese pianist has had the advice of Staier, as a recognized specialist in historicist interpretation.

"The

are designed for a harpsichord with two keyboards, so I have had to psychologically understand this music in its original instrument and adapt it to the modern piano", he acknowledges.

You think you hear echoes of other vintage instruments in this music, such as the baroque trumpet (plays the start of the fast part of variation 16,

).

And even the vocality as well: “I have found inspiration in Cecilia Bartoli's way of singing [she plays the beginning of variation 13] with this lyrical sound, because I think the piano can sing better than the harpsichord,” she says.

"And from Staier I have learned to embellish and add details in the repetitions that are not written in the score [he addresses the first ornate repetition of variation 7,

], but which were common in the Baroque era."

Lang Lang gave his first public recital with the

on March 1 at the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden.

It was the start of an extensive international tour, which should have passed through Spain, but was cut short by the outbreak of the pandemic.

“We live a nightmare in classical music, because many institutions, artists and agencies are suffering with this situation.

But I am hopeful that soon we will have a good vaccine and that we can travel again and take up all the canceled concerts.

I look forward to touring with the

in the spring of next year, ”he admits.

The pianist has recently overcome a serious injury to his left arm, as a result of an intense study

of Ravel's

, which forced him to take a long sabbatical between 2017 and 2018. “My life without the piano is difficult to imagine, although stopping helps you reflect, improve your exercises, lose some weight and teach, which is something I adore, ”he says.

Among his future plans, he hopes to finish recording Beethoven's piano concertos, to make more Baroque, Handel and Scarlatti music, along with an album of Chopin's Mazurkas.

And he persists in reaching as a pianist that aesthetic ideal that combines the sweetness of Arthur Rubinstein with the delicacy of Vladimir Horowitz.

“I keep working in that direction.

But one of the things that differentiates me from both of them is that neither of them recorded the

, ”he smiles.

He avoids delving into current affairs, although he acknowledges that a different mentality now reigns in China in relation to the country he left 23 years ago: "I think it is more open and international than before."

She confesses her sadness at the racial conflict in the United States: “I want a society that is more tolerant and capable of conversation.

I think we need to get closer instead of away. "

And we end by talking about her opinion about the critics, who in recent years have attacked her excess of marketing and lack of musical depth.

“It is fantastic that they criticize me, because that makes you improve artistically.

But obviously we don't have to agree.

I think that artists and critics work in the same direction: to make classical music more interesting ”.