2015.1221
Pianist Lang Lang talks to Music Majors in NTNU
What’s the most essential abilities to musicians? The world known pianist, Lang Lang shared his experience with music majors on 15th of December. He said that there are three important abilities that musicians should keep in mind, one is the ability to remember notes quickly, the second is to interpret a work on one’s own and the third one is to have a strong will.
Lang Lang was born in Shenyang, Liaoning. A prodigy who made his Beijing Concert Hall debut at age 13, Lang Lang became an overnight sensation at age 17 when he stepped in on short notice to perform with the Chicago Symphony.
Chinn-Horng Nanette CHEN, the director of the Music Department, Professor Lin Min-Huel, Professor Wei-Wei Lee and Professor Mei Ming-Hwei all came to this event. Lang Lang said “Everyone here meet the basic requirement of being a pianist, but to be a musician, you have to remember the notes quicker, Conductor Lorin Maaze plays very good piano, he can remember the notes after reading it once, so he can put more emphasis on studying the piece but not remembering it.”
He said, the second important thing is to interpret the work. “People like good students, students that are obedient, but if you just follow what others tell you to do, it’s hard to be who you are.” Lang Lang thinks that “To a musician, music is an instrument that express your feeling, what’s more important is what you want to say through your music.” “Last, every musician should stay in a good shape in every concert. You don’t have to be arrogant, but you should have a strong will.”
A student asked, how Lang Lang can practice in such busy schedule. He said “This is a good question. When I was young, there were plenty of time, I could practice 4 to 5 hours per day, but now I take planes so often that makes me think that I am working in the plane.” He told students that there’s only one way that is to use spare time as wisely as you could. You can do it in the plane, even when you’re waiting for your flight. You can think about it. Lang Lang said, when you are young, you’re practicing your hand, as time goes, you should think about it more.
“Sometimes you feel lazy when you’re tired, but if you focus on practicing, you will recover from jet leg soon.” He said that he used to go to parties after concerts, however, his unsteady blood pressure was a sign that told him to stop doing it.