Pianist Lang Lang came straight to Philadelphia from his native China in hope, rather than certainty, that he would be able to continue his musical education here. It worked out, and he was admitted to the Curtis Institute where he bloomed into a major talent.
Many Philadelphia Orchestra musicians are Lang Lang’s former classmates from Curtis. And he’s been playing with them regularly since - in Philadelphia, and on tours around the world.
Lang Lang famously has an amazing capacity to recall from memory dozens of concertos. He says that of the 40 or so that he keeps in his hands, he plays about half of them regularly.
So, every summer he sets aside time to practice those lesser-played works to, as he says, keeps them fresh.
LangLang111714JCLF.mp3
Listen to more of Jim Cotter's interview with Lang Lang.