A comparison
Like most other music lovers, I learnt about Yundi Li after he won the first prize in the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition, Warsaw in 2000. I learnt about Lang Lang even earlier, when I was searching for Rachmaninov’s Concerto CD in HMV; his CDs were everywhere, but seeing a young little boy playing such difficult piece, I daren’t waste so much money to risk buying something I wasn’t too confident with; I was determined to search for the album “Rachmaninov plays Rachmaninov”.
They’re both virtuosos, and won so much admiration around the world by millions of audiences, from music novices to experts to critics. Some time ago, I picked up a copy of “Le Monde de la Musique” and read an interview of Martha Argerich, my favourite pianist (how I wish I could become her student one day, not a realistic thought?) and was a bit surprised and wondered what she meant by the following:
Magazine:
What do you think for instance of the success of Lang Lang in the United States?
Martha Argerich:
I don’t understand. But conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach and Yuri Termikanov are positive, so……
Strange, isn’t it? I was wondering if this is a criticism or what else she could meant, and obviously, this is not a positive remark. If you know, please leave a comment to share you views with me.
This is already not the first time to hear something negative about Lang Lang. Not long ago, both Li and Lang performed in Macau respectively; according to a musician and good friend of mine, while Yundi Li’s ticket were sold out in a few hours, Lang Lang’s ticket were still available a few weeks later when she enquired. “This might be because the people love the modesty of Yundi, and this personality makes him popular among younger people,” she explained.
After many years of wondering who Lang Lang was (the day since I found his CDs at HMV), I finally watched a short video clip of him playing Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with an orchestra, and his exaggerating body language caused uncomforts to me; this was exactly something very controversial among many critics today. Some love it, while some find it too artificial. But finally, his tremendous virtuosity has convinced me that his CDs are worth to collect.
Many people compared Yundi Li and Lang Lang, and they have become somehow the “ambassadors” of China’s music scene today. They are role models for young music students, and pride of many Chinese people.
I read a very interesting article about a comparison between the two today and I’m sure you’ll agree with the author if you have heard their performance and watched their interviews.
He says, “Li and Lang are different. Their grew up differently, their road to fame was different, one by competition while the other skyrocketed to fame overnight after playing a concert, they have different personalities and different playing styles, thus it is not necessary to compare who is better. Their road to become Great Master is still long and tough, and cultivation will help them understand the true literature of music.”
