Oh no Lang Lang again

[L'enfer]

A good old Lang sign?

Pun of The Week!

Agreed.

[VodkaDilc]

All great fun so far, but what about my question at the outset of this thread, do people like Lang Lang have a function in encouraging people who know little about serious music to explore further ?

The answer must be 'yes', so I suppose that means LL is a good thing. The same with the 'popular' tenors, whose names I can't think of. Some people will move on to explore more rounded artists. Others will stick with the performer who gets all the publicity.

I also believe that millions? (thousands?) of young Chinese people have taken up the piano after having been inspired by LL.

I just prefer to choose my pianists from a different part of the artistry/showmanship spectrum.

[VodkaDilc]

Even if he is a force for good in the classical music world and he inspires a whole new generation of young musicians. Will this make up for me getting several emails a week from Amazon and HMV asking me to buy Lang Lang's CDs? I don't think so...

I recently bought a CD from HMV and started getting these emails; it was very easy to 'unsubscribe'. (Whereas I have never had any dealings with the Amazon monster.)

[Serial_Apologist]

The same with the 'popular' tenors, whose names I can't think of.

Many people are probably under the impression that Nessun Dorma is the only thing Puccini ever composed!

[MrGongGong]

Many people are probably under the impression that Nessun Dorma is the only thing Puccini ever composed!

Isn't it by that Lloyd Webber chap ?

[Serial_Apologist]

Isn't it by that Lloyd Webber chap ?

SO it IS!!!

[L'enfer]

I recently bought a CD from HMV and started getting these emails; it was very easy to 'unsubscribe'. (Whereas I have never had any dealings with the Amazon monster.)

Thank you Vodka but I don't mind the emails. In fact I find them quite useful at times say there is a sale on I'm to lazy to check the site often. it's just no matter how many times you tick the "not interested box" I get another Lang Lang email eventually. I picture someone sitting at a big computer sending them t me personally hoping I'll snap and buy his discography, DVDs and all.

The same thing happens with (dare I speak his name) André Rieu and Katherine Jenkins although I haven't heard of her before she doesn't look to by my cup of tea. They must have loads of stock to sell! Not that it really bothers me they are easily stopped and or deleted like you said. I'm just not a fan of Mr Rieu or Mr Lang just wait and see they'll do a duet at Christmas most likely just to annoy me.

[Serial_Apologist]

Thank you Vodka but I don't mind the emails. In fact I find them quite useful at times say there is a sale on. Having never been inside a HMV I rely on the emails as I'm to lazy to check the site often. it's just no matter how many times you tick the "not interested box" I get another Lang Lang email eventually. I picture someone sitting at a big computer sending them to personally hoping I'll snap and buy his discography, DVDs and all.

The same thing happens with (dare I speak his name) André Rieu and Katherine Jenkins although I haven't heard of her before she doesn't look to by my cup of tea. They must have loads of stock to sell! Not that it really bothers me they are easily stopped and or deleted like you said. I'm just not a fan of Mr Rieu or Mr Lang just wait and see they'll do a duet at Christmas most likely just to annoy me.

If you ever do go out, you will find that there are very few remaining HMV outlets of any quality, let alone shops that sell those things called CDs.

[VodkaDilc]

I feel that Lang Lang and those who advise him should read the profile of James MacMillan in today's Guardian, especially his answer to this question:

Is fame important to you?

It never was, and it isn't now. I don't think people involved in classical music have the same perceptions of fame compared with the more populist arts, where fame seems to be the lifeblood. We're known eventually for what we do, but only by aficionados. And that's the way it should be.

[Serial_Apologist]

I feel that Lang Lang and those who advise him should read the profile of James MacMillan in today's Guardian, especially his answer to this question:

Is fame important to you?

It never was, and it isn't now. I don't think people involved in classical music have the same perceptions of fame compared with the more populist arts, where fame seems to be the lifeblood. We're known eventually for what we do, but only by aficionados. And that's the way it should be.

I've always assumed James Macillan to be rather popular with the, er.... Masses?

[Mr Pee]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalconcertreviews/9166570/Its-snobbery-to-censure-a-showman-pianist.html

[Serial_Apologist]

In the end it all comes down to whether or not classical music is regarded primarily as a listening experience - which, in my own case, it is. I can only recall two occasions on which I opened my eyes to see what was going on at a classical concert. One was during a particularly stormy passage in The Rite of Spring, with Boulez conducting - but it was the music that did it: I would have looked up whoever and whichever conductor or orchestra had been playing. The other occasion was Schuller conducting Ives 4 at the Proms: I was not alone in raising myself from crouched attentiveness to peer over the parapet in wonderment at one man presiding over the coordination of what on first hearing sounded to me like utter chaos. Frankly, posey performers, whether they be pianists or singers with pained expressions, are too embarrassing to look at. I don't like posing rock and pop stars either, and as a jazz fan only look up from time to time to observe the intercommunication that is at the heart of the best performances. If criticisms of Lang Lang lie in showmanship overriding nuance and subtlety, then I would certainly notice.

S-A