On September 26, when piano provocateur Lang Lang plays Beethoven’s Emperor concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for its season opener, he’ll bring some serious rock star energy to one of the composer’s most demanding works.

Even if you’re not a Heinz Hall regular and have never heard the name Lang Lang, chances are you’ve heard his music. Since he emerged on the cultural scene around the turn of the 21st century, the Chinese-born pianist has blurred the boundaries between the classical concert hall and popular culture. He’s performed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, partnered with Metallica and BLACKPINK, appeared in Dior campaigns as the brand’s ambassador, and was featured on the soundtrack of the Gran Turismo 5 video game. That reach and notoriety has propelled him to superstar status, something that remains unprecedented for a classical musician—all without dumbing down the material.

From Child Prodigy to Piano Superstar: Lang Lang Comes to Pittsburgh 

Lang Lang’s global stardom hardly seemed inevitable when he was growing up in Shenyang, China. Born in 1982 to a musical family—his father is a master of the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument—his interest in learning the piano developed at the tender age of two. But Lang Lang admits it wasn’t entirely due to family: he credits watching cartoon cat and mouse Tom and Jerry perform Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 as an early musical influence. By age 15, he and his father relocated to Philadelphia so he could study at the Curtis Institute of Music. 

Since then, Lang Lang’s star has continued to rise at a clip that goes beyond meteoric, but it’s his theatricality that has made him a polarizing figure. His dramatic physical gestures—especially raising his hands very high off the keys before striking critical chords—make other pianists nervous to try, but he does them with flair and ease. Some critics have called the showmanship immature, arguing that it can distract from what’s actually happening musically and technically. Lang Lang himself refuses to get drawn into the controversy. As he said in an interview with London’s Telegraph: “You get many good reviews from the beginning, and then the critics start criticizing you. It’s strange. The things they liked you for first—unique, fresh—they say is great. And then later they say you’re too fresh, too unique. But they’re the same thing!”

Outside the Bounds of Classical Music

While most classical musicians have avoided crossing over into pop culture by design, Lang Lang has chosen to do it purposefully. He’s playing to his interests and willing to step into other spaces—and I know that first-hand. 

I first met Lang Lang back in the mid-2000s in New York City, when I was an associate producer for the storied classical music agency Columbia Artists Management. It was still early in his career, not long after pianist Earl Wild had described him as “the J-Lo of the piano.” I looked up from my computer and was greeted by a youthful face set beneath a flourish of spiky, black hair. He was searching for his agent and had mistaken me for the receptionist.

As I gave him simple directions to a destination down the hall, I was quietly bemused by his neck-to-ankles Adidas track suit, before I noticed that his feet were adorned by a crisp pair of Adidas Gazelle, the classic, indoor soccer shoe. I had to glance again at the sneakers: they were emblazoned with a caricature of himself, playing the piano stamped on the heel in gold foil.

Lang Lang Takes On Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto

When Lang Lang brings that cultural awareness and his persona to Heinz Hall, he’ll be tackling one of Beethoven’s most familiar—and challenging—works. Dubbed “An Evening of Beethoven and Brilliance” by the PSO, it concludes with Lang Lang performing Beethoven’s Emperor concerto, No. 5 in E-flat major. A concerto is a lot like a great rock song with an amazing guitar solo: one instrument is singled out as the most important, usually with virtuosic material played by a featured soloist—Lang Lang on the piano in this case—with the rest of the orchestra in a supporting role. 

Concertos often have sections at critical points called cadenzas, where the soloist will show off their own creativity and skill without the orchestra playing along. Really great soloists often compose their own material in these cases, though ironically in this particular piece Beethoven wrote out the cadenza himself—and left specific instructions in the score that the soloist is not to deviate from what he wrote.

The Intricacies of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto

A technically demanding work, the Emperor was Beethoven’s fifth concerto, written in 1809 when he had almost completely lost his hearing. The work belongs to Beethoven’s so-called heroic middle period, when his music took on a larger, more dramatic scale. The first of the three movements alone is longer than an entire concerto might have been a few decades earlier—Beethoven, just like Lang Lang, was all about going big or going home.

Emperor requires extreme stamina on the part of the soloist due to its length. Lang Lang has to be able to play long passages loudly for much more extended periods than in other works, and will often be fighting to be heard over the orchestra, due to Beethoven’s tendency to over-orchestrate—i.e, too many instruments all playing at the same time, possibly because of his hearing loss. 

What Else Is in Store?

Beethoven is only part of the evening’s musical lineup. The program opens with Bernstein’s Candide Overture and Bizet’s Carmen Suite, followed by Chick Corea’s La Fiesta, a Latin-tinged change of pace that showcases PSO musicians Anne Martindale Williams and Dale Jeong. Then comes Beethoven and Lang Lang, a familiar crowd-pleaser with plenty of star power.

I’m not sure if Lang Lang still rocks those custom Gazelles. But keep your eye on the keyboard and you’re sure to see fireworks either way.

Looking for more performances? Check out our guide to things to do in Pittsburgh.

Story by Christian Kriegeskotte
Photos From Lang Lang

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