Between two stools

[french frank]

I don’t know which of the many classical charts you mean ... You don’t have to sell many albums to get in the classical top 10 .

The one I linked to, dominated by Einaudi and including Andrea Bocelli, Katherine Jenkins, Karl Jenkins, André Rieu and sundry Greatest Hits. I'm sure you have to sell more albums than you do for the Gramophone "Specialist" classical charts (top 20) in which Lang Lang does not appear - which seems rather odd to me.

[Ein Heldenleben]

The one I linked to, dominated by Einaudi and including Andrea Bocelli, Katherine Jenkins, Karl Jenkins, André Rieu and sundry Greatest Hits. I'm sure you have to sell more albums than you do for the Gramophone "Specialist" classical charts (top 20) in which Lang Lang does not appear - which seems rather odd to me.

Even on this chart (which I suspect includes streams and downloads) a few hundred sales in a week would get you in the top fifty. I read recently that 1,000 weekly sales comfortably gets you in the pop top 50 these days

[french frank]

Even on this chart (which I suspect includes streams and downloads) a few hundred sales in a week would get you in the top fifty. I read recently that 1,000 weekly sales comfortably gets you in the pop top 50 these days

If it's the TOP 20 or 50 wouldn't it depend on the size of the sales of all the current other recordings as to what position in or whether you reached a place in the charts - a sort of competition? Even in the charts with the wider remit, Lang Lang hit 2nd and 3rd place - almost the best seller.

[frankbridge]

The one I linked to, dominated by Einaudi and including Andrea Bocelli, Katherine Jenkins, Karl Jenkins, André Rieu and sundry Greatest Hits. I'm sure you have to sell more albums than you do for the Gramophone "Specialist" classical charts (top 20) in which Lang Lang does not appear - which seems rather odd to me.

I'm a keen follower of his work (my friend is not so much a fan, dismissing him as Klang Klang, which is a little unfair IMHO) but I was lucky to hear him in Michael Tippett's wonderful Piano Concerto in the Barbican a few years ago and I was quite impressed: I don't think that there was a recording issued, which was a shame, but as I have the Ogdon and Sir Col on Decca, and Howard Shelley and Richard Hickox on Chandos, I shall be quite content with my lot

[Ein Heldenleben]

I'm a keen follower of his work (my friend is not so much a fan, dismissing him as Klang Klang, which is a little unfair IMHO) but I was lucky to hear him in Michael Tippett's wonderful Piano Concerto in the Barbican a few years ago and I was quite impressed: I don't think that there was a recording issued, which was a shame, but as I have the Ogdon and Sir Col on Decca, and Howard Shelley and Richard Hickox on Chandos, I shall be quite content with my lot

He is a very , very good pianist but I fear his ubiquity and inconsistency when live has counted against him. He is a tireless advocate for music education and I believe has made some very substantial donations of things like music keyboards to British schools . In short I think he’s a good egg. He has done so much to raise the profile of piano playing in China which now has more child pianists than any country on earth . A good thing surely.

[Maclintick]

In short I think he’s a good egg. He has done so much to raise the profile of piano playing in China which now has more child pianists than any country on earth . A good thing surely.

Agreed. With +40 m children learning the piano in China because of Lang Lang the future of European classical music is assured in the Far East. Not so here, unfortunately..

[Bryn]

Agreed. With +40 m children learning the piano in China because of Lang Lang the future of European classical music is assured in the Far East. Not so here, unfortunately..

Not wishing to detract from Lang Lang's contribution, the quotation for Mao. well known in China, "Learn to play the piano" may have played some part, despite it having been about how to run a committee.

[Serial_Apologist]

Not wishing to detract from Lang Lang's contribution, the quotation for Mao. well known in China, "Learn to play the piano" may have played some part, despite it having been about how to run a committee.

I take it that Mao quote is down in black and white?

[Bryn]

Funny you should mention that:

Learn to "play the piano". In playing the piano, all ten fingers are in motion; it will not do to move some fingers only and not others. However, if all ten fingers press down at once, there is no melody. To produce good music, the ten fingers should move rhythmically and in co-ordination. A Party committee should keep a firm grasp on its central task and at the same time, around the central task, it should unfold the work in other fields. At present, we have to take care of many fields; we must look after the work in all the areas, armed units and departments, and not give all our attention to a few problems, to the exclusion of others. Wherever there is a problem, we must put our finger on it, and this is a method we must master. Some play the piano well and some badly, and there is a great difference in the melodies they produce. Members of Party committees must learn to "play the piano" well.

"Methods of Work of Party Committees" (March 13, 1949), Selected Works, Vol. IV p. 379

Phew, that took a bit of DuckDuckGoing.

[Tevot]

I suppose the question might be "What are the two stools here?" - the music played or the audience which appreciates it? . In the case of Lang Lang (and, again, his musical talent is not in dispute) what is the audience which has propelled no fewer than four of his albums into the current "Official" classical chart ... does that audience contain so many devoted fans of Lang Lang that they buy every single album of his? Or is that audience so big that they don't need to buy every album but just buy one or two but the audience for all four separate albums is still big enough for it to reach the top 50? .

I think Lang Lang's recent appearance as a "judge" on the Piano might have boosted interest / sales particularly if people have never heard of him nor knowingly listened to any of his recordings. To be honest I had major issues with the Piano as pianists tended I felt to lose out to performers / singers who could peddle a human-interest angle... and also, the commentary dubbing Lang Lang "the world's greatest pianist" or some such was just silly imho.

If any kind soul could recommend a Lang Lang recording I'd be grateful. That aside, I'm already looking forward to Piano 2 Bradford Interchange - featuring Yuja Wang and Myleene Klass with the finale held at Harry Ramsden's Fish and Chip shop

[smittims]

I recognised 'Learn to play the piano' (it was, of course, a metaphor) from my well-thumbed copy of 'Quotations from Chairman Mao-Tse-Tung', which could be found in many a schoolboy's pocket in the 1960s, if only to annoy the Headmaster.

[Bryn]

I recognised 'Learn to play the piano' (it was, of course, a metaphor) from my well-thumbed copy of 'Quotations from Chairman Mao-Tse-Tung', which could be found in many a schoolboy's pocket in the 1960s, if only to annoy the Headmaster.

Yes, the first four sentences amused me enough to write a jokey piece based on it, back in the Scratch Orchestra days.

[smittims]

I hope Cornelius saw the joke.

[Bryn]

I hope Cornelius saw the joke.

I think it was during his year in Berlin. It was more with John Tilbury in mind that it was written. I think he got the joke of restricting oneself to the criteria mentioned in those four sentences when playing the piano.