long story short
if you find me wiping tears in private, it is because i’m listening to lang lang’s new album piano book 2, not because i’m crying over reasons like self-pity. i say this because lang lang’s new album is simply too good to be true. if you disagree with my evaluation, sue me. or maybe disagree politely. because a normal human being doesn’t typically like to be disagreed in a blunt, inconsiderate way.
what happened was, at the end of the day, i was journaling. because they say journaling is a great closure for the day. i got bored in the middle of my journal and clicked into apple music. the algorithm instantly directed me to lang lang’s album, which opened up a new world. at the same time, i was trying to finish reading a psychology book on attachment styles, which is intense in an unsurprising way as all self-revelation books are. such is the ambience of tapping into an album.
lang’s album is a wonderful combination of the most savage, serious pieces of piano music and the most popular tunes from contemporary movies. i definitely won’t admit that i’m shedding tears when i’m hearing his chopin fantaisie-impromptu—well, i just admit it. can you believe how many millions of renditions there are simply for this piece? despite high familiarity, high expectation and high popularity, i’m deeply persuaded, touched, and infected by lang’s rendition.
this album involves the most beloved tunes of all times, brilliantly executed with the most spontaneity and musicality. to name a few, there’s beethoven’s rage over a lost penny, which is my personal favorite of all time. lang lang plays it with such incredible nuances and presents it in such a joyful and fun way. to name more, rush e is impressively presented, mixed with a combination of both subtle and dramatic differences. the title rush e is self-explanatory enough. it centers around e, including the note e, the chord a-c-e, etc. this is my first time hearing this piece. and i have fallen in love with it. Sibelius’ etude in a also made a great impression. i once heard yuja wang played it live as an encore piece. yuja played it equally brilliantly, though under a totally different intonation and touch. lang lang’s rendition shows that there is so many variety we can do with the score.
it might be embarrassing to admit that i’m also deeply moved by mia and sebastian’s theme from la la land. i’m also very convinced by lang lang’s cinema paradiso. actually, what is truly embarrassing is that i have actually never watched the latter (i did watch la la land), although i’m a self-proclaimed movie connoisseur. i would describe the listening experience as a truly pleasant and moving one. the music makes me start to dream again.
long story short—and that’s how you end a blog—i remain thankful to art, especially to music and musicians. without musicians, the world would be such a bleak, boring place—more boring and more bleak than it’s already been. once again, i send my homage to music and musicians, for glittering our world with so much fun.