About Chinese pianists

[invictious]

Well yeah, what about that? I had the impression that in China, you never had the same first name and last name unless you were a panda. Can anybody enlighten me about this?

The name in Chinese are actually totally different characters.  郎朗 literally means 'male' and 'happy'. Though they may look the same on half the characters, they are quite different.

It is actually the translation of the name (they translate the name through sounds) and they DO sound the same.

[daniloperusina]

I just completely disagree.

That's perfectly ok!:)

[slobone]

The name in Chinese are actually totally different characters.  郎朗 literally means 'male' and 'happy'. Though they may look the same on half the characters, they are quite different.

It is actually the translation of the name (they translate the name through sounds) and they DO sound the same.

Wikipedia says the pinyin is Láng Lǎng, which looks like they would be pronounced differently. Are they different tones?

[invictious]

Wikipedia says the pinyin is Láng Lǎng, which looks like they would be pronounced differently. Are they different tones?

Yes, one is meant to be subtly higher, and the other is meant to be um..hooked.

Yes those marks over the vowels are tones, and in English there are no such tones, so they just make it Lang Lang.

[sakhmet]

Yundi Li is my absolute favorite pianist!!!   I love his La Campanella and Sontata In B Minor (to name a few).  He's just amazing, simply put. 

[tanman]

I personally don't like both of them.

btw found this really funny vid of Lang Lang.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b85hn8rJvgw

[tds]

I personally don't like both of them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b85hn8rJvgw

like omg u know them personally?!

[thalbergmad]

Chinese pianists are velly velly good.

Thal

[tds]

 

[thierry13]

btw found this really funny vid of Lang Lang.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b85hn8rJvgw

Thats is SOOOOOOOO old ... lol.

[windy_cheml]

T'm from China.I feel sad for my nation.Lang has too many concert for him to practise pr think for his playing.More than Performances,he was good at technology.But I really like him ,he's a lovely person.In china,too many piano students are forced by their parents to learn piano ,just for piano level tests.  maybe,what's the  reason to make things like these was that the country is too poor.

[tds]

T'm from China.... the country is too poor.

CHINA IS POOR!?

china scares all wealthiest countries, including usa and all european counries. many have predicted that she will take over the world financially in some 20 year's time.

[sharon_f]

Slightly OT, this article was reprinted in my local newspaper this past Sunday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7436434.stm

[general disarray]

T'm from China.I feel sad for my nation.Lang has too many concert for him to practise pr think for his playing.More than Performances,he was good at technology.But I really like him ,he's a lovely person.In china,too many piano students are forced by their parents to learn piano ,just for piano level tests.  maybe,what's the  reason to make things like these was that the country is too poor.

I think we can assume that this poster knows what he/she is speaking about.

"National Geographic" recently did a special issue devoted to China.  Amazing articles.  The mania to compete is so intense in that country that young people are forced into over-crowded schedules and grueling activities constantly  -- music lessons being among these activities.  It's pretty joyless for these talented kids.  They don't get to be kids.

And, China, despite the wealth that the West sees, harbors millions of very poor people.  China is able to produce so much and so cheaply, because its factory workers are poor rural folk, in many cases starving, who are compelled to migrate to urban areas to survive as factory workers.

As factory workers, they are paid next to nothing and work enormously long hours.

The factory owners and government officials are the rich in China.  Not the millions who do the labor and are paid next to nothing.  Conditions for them are awful.

As in America, the rich get richer and poor get poorer.

As Balzac famously said, "Behind every great fortune is a crime."  In China's case, the exploitation of its people is the crime. 

That's unbridled capitalism at its best, friends!

[slobone]

Oh come on, nearly all the great pianists you can name spent most of their childhood sitting in front of the keyboard, whether they're from China, Poland, or the US. That's just the way it works. Same with violinists, figure skaters, gymnasts, etc. If they're not pretty amazing by the time they're 12, they're probably not going to have a career.

And it's only the US that places such a premium on "being a kid" -- meaning I guess playing video games, hanging out at the mall, and generally misbehaving while the parents are at work. In other countries they get to play all they want for the first five or six years, after that they're expected to buckle down and start doing serious schoolwork, music practicing, etc.

Is our system better? Are Americans happier than people in Europe, Japan, China, etc.? I think you'd have trouble making that case...

[minor9th]

Between the two, I guess I'd take Yundi Li (would you rather be shot or stabbed?); however, I prefer the Russian school in general--a lot more soul and power in their playing.

[general disarray]

Oh come on, nearly all the great pianists you can name spent most of their childhood sitting in front of the keyboard, whether they're from China, Poland, or the US. That's just the way it works. Same with violinists, figure skaters, gymnasts, etc. If they're not pretty amazing by the time they're 12, they're probably not going to have a career.

You misunderstand me.  Children, prodigies at any pursuit, welcome the chance to immerse themselves in developing their talents.  Yes,  some motivation is to please authority figures, but not all of it.  I should know.  I began studying when I was three and couldn't be pulled away from the keyboard.

But, I'm talking about the Chinese system today among the emerging middle class.  Children, according to the article printed in the "National Geographic," aren't given a choice.  It's their parents,  hungry for upper mobility, who are forcing them to compete in a variety of pursuits whether the child expresses interest or not.

And, interestingly, the American upper middle class is behaving the same way now.  If you have children, or know children of friends in private schools, you can easily verify my statement. 

I'm not romanticizng some mythical American childhood.  Kids need to learn discipline and industry at the earliest age possible, but this effort should be allied to their own native, inborn interests and not the parents' own displaced desires.  To turn a kid into a musician when he/she has no desire for it is stupid and abusive.

[kenwo01]

I don't thick they are very good.

[qkim]

First of all Yundi Li does play a lot of Liszt as well.
I used to be anti Lang Lang.  Then I heard a masterclass of his.  He is quite sincere a musician.  I respect him as a musician but he's not for my taste. 

[russda_man]

They're the lifeless prog-metal of classical musicians and China is as good at cranking out risk-free virtuosos as northern Europe is at cranking out horrible metal bands. All technique and by-the-book cleanliness...no soul, individuality, or creativity. I have Yundi Li's Liszt disc and I almost never listen to it. I heard part of his Prokofiev concerto on the local college radio and it too was way too safe and surgical. The playing is very impressive, but I'd rather sacrifice a small amount of technical precision for some more personality in the music.

Beyond that, Li's and Lang's repertoires are completely unadventurous. A whole bunch of romanticism imitating and little else. We don't need any more Chopin, Liszt, and Rachmaninov recordings!!! We also don't need any hideously backwards musical shitheaps like that horrible Yellow River Concerto, which sounds about as artistically forced upon poor Chinese musicians as the political regime's slogans are forced on the poor Chinese populace.

I'm convinced that China has way more to offer than those soulless showboats. It's a shame their inhuman government will never allow any truely individual art to thrive. Thankfully, every now and then someone manages to get the hell out of there and do great things in Europe or the States.

Couldn't agree more mate.

[chopinmozart7]

i think they are very good in every way,but im starting to laugh sometimes when i see that they put soooooooooo much emotions so their faces looks like my sister crying.

[thalbergmad]

Soooooo much emotion in the face, that regretfully does not extend to the keyboard.

Thal

[retrouvailles]

Soooooo much emotion in the face, that regretfully does not extend to the keyboard.

Thal

Very well said!

[tanman]

i think they are very good in every way,but im starting to laugh sometimes when i see that they put soooooooooo much emotions so their faces looks like my sister crying.

lol. sometimes it looks like their having anorgasm...   

[nyonyo]

There are tons of Asians in conservatories all over the world, do you think just by forcing them to practice they can be at that level. The kids must like to play too. No parents can be consistent enough to monitor their kids practice. It is just not possible. They may be able to torture their kids for 3 years, but more than that time duration, the kids must also like and enjoy playing piano. It is true that Asian kids are easier to be taught, because they are less likely to rebel. That is why we have never seen Nanny 911 or Super Nanny featuring Asian family. The Asian parents will beat them up before the kids misbehave like those kids featured in those shows. I love watching those shows! I cannot believe how parents can be manipulated by little kids.

Anyway, when the kids were small, parents have the absolute say. Whether they like it or not, they MUST play whatever instrument that the parents want them to play. At the beginning they may not like it. But after awhile, the kids start gaining the appreciation of playing piano and they will enjoy playing.

[healdie]

Have either of these pianists composed anything?? or are they completly incapable,

if they constantly keep repeating Liszt and Chopin arn't they as weaker msucians as the guy down your local pub doing Beatles and oasis covers all the time?

to me they are just cover artists

[pianisten1989]

I kind of like Lang Lang, or atleats more than before.
He may look rather wierd when he plays, but he can make tempo changes in piano concertos, and make the orchestra do it aswell. Not many pianists are able to do that, without really mess it up at first.

[retrouvailles]

I kind of like Lang Lang, or atleats more than before.
He may look rather wierd when he plays, but he can make tempo changes in piano concertos, and make the orchestra do it aswell. Not many pianists are able to do that, without really mess it up at first.

Well, he does that well because of rehearsal. That isn't a special skill. Lots of pianists can do that.