In the West, classical music is an old-fashioned art superseded by rock, hip-hop, and other pop forms that speak to the young. Yet in China, a country closed off to the West during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and '70s, classical music is considered the new fashion. Every time I play a concert in China, 90 percent of the audience is younger than twenty years old... Sales of pianos are falling in the United States, but sharply rising in China.

China's love for classical music can often be naive. There's a joke I like to tell about a group of record producers who greeted the pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy in their boardroom to discuss a new recording of Chopin's waltzes. The producers sat silently until Ashkenazy asked they should begin the meeting. "Shouldn't we wait for the composer?" one of them asked... Somebody also asked me whether Elise plays better than Beethoven (Beethoven wrote a piece called "Für Elise"). I answered, "What do you think?" I don't mind when a Chinese audience claps in between the movements of a concerto instead of waiting till the end. The love of the music is more important to me than traditional etiquette.

Thank you for the post Teo.

I have never heard Lang Lang play, but I have heard a lot about him. Apparently he is quite a virtuoso pianist. He did play at the Bejing olympics.

I understand that China has a great many young classical music students. It is about time that someone starts listening to actual music, and not just deafening noises that inflict pain on your eardrums.

Love,
Sue

Thank you Teo.



I find Lang Lang absolutely fascinating. I try to go to every concert of his when he comes to Toronto. I have a few of his CD's, as well as the book that you mentioned; I even got Lang Lang to sign them.

There are quite a few Asian virtuoso musicians, and many more to come. Asia is the new world, drawing on the beauty of the old world, and making it even more dynamic and vibrant than it was.



Love, Inda

quote:

Originally posted by dear Inda:
There are quite a few Asian virtuoso musicians, and many more to come. Asia is the new world, drawing on the beauty of the old world, and making it even more dynamic and vibrant than it was.



Love, Inda

What would Chairman Mao think, his great, vast, huge country, will save Classical Music, and perhaps.. even.. capitalism.. he he..

Maybe I had better become Teoteo because another hero of mine is Yoyo!

Yoyo-Ma's Silk Road Ensemble is amazing because they truly bring east and west together, and I have seen Yoyo talking to Itzhak Pearlman (spleling?) in the context of he is taking over "carrying on the traditions" of virtuoso classical performance. He was asking Pearlman about how he does things, in a way, that showed that it's not strictly the purview of the great Jewish performers anymore.

Reading this book, amazingly, there are 40 million piano students in China now. This is staggering! In a sense though, it may keep sales of classical music, and concerts in business! Yay!


Though in this economy, I don't know if the people Sue mentioned, fans of "deafening noises that inflict pain on your eardrums" may be in for some losses.. he he..


Love and *LIGHT* *BEING*, Teo Do (Re, Mi, Fa, Soul....)

Thank you for the lovely picture Teo.

It is wonderful to know that music is back in its highest artform. To be a good musician takes a lot of work and effort, and I know that a great many of the Asian youths will do it. They are very dedicated and very hard workers.

Love,
Sue

Thank you for the post Teo.

I have never heard Lang Lang in concert but I hear him quite often on the radio. He is a very talented young man, and I truly enjoy his playing. He has a gift performing the difficult compositions of Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin. I truly enjoy listening to him.

Sincerely,
Gisele

quote:

China's love for classical music can often be naive. There's a joke I like to tell about a group of record producers who greeted the pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy in their boardroom to discuss a new recording of Chopin's waltzes. The producers sat silently until Ashkenazy asked they should begin the meeting. "Shouldn't we wait for the composer?" one of them asked... Somebody also asked me whether Elise plays better than Beethoven

This is very funny Teo
Thank you.

I have Lang Lang's book, and quite a few of his CD's. I truly admire him.
I have seen him in concert and love his playing. He gets so very animated and really emotionally involved with the music that he is playing.





There are so many talented Asian musicians at the moment, and I am sure that we will see many more in the next few years.

Love,
yoko