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In the West, classical music is an old-fashioned art superseded by rock, hip-hop, and other pop forms that speak to the young. Yet in China, a country closed off to the West during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and '70s, classical music is considered the new fashion. Every time I play a concert in China, 90 percent of the audience is younger than twenty years old... Sales of pianos are falling in the United States, but sharply rising in China.

China's love for classical music can often be naive. There's a joke I like to tell about a group of record producers who greeted the pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy in their boardroom to discuss a new recording of Chopin's waltzes. The producers sat silently until Ashkenazy asked they should begin the meeting. "Shouldn't we wait for the composer?" one of them asked... Somebody also asked me whether Elise plays better than Beethoven (Beethoven wrote a piece called "FÜr Elise"). I answered, "What do you think?" I don't mind when a Chinese audience claps in between the movements of a concerto instead of waiting till the end. The love of the music is more important to me than traditional etiquette.

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Thank you for the post Teo.

I have never heard Lang Lang play, but I have heard a lot about him. Apparently he is quite a virtuoso pianist. He did play at the Bejing olympics.

I understand that China has a great many young classical music students. It is about time that someone starts listening to actual music, and not just deafening noises that inflict pain on your eardrums.

Love,
Sue
Thank you Teo.



I find Lang Lang absolutely fascinating. I try to go to every concert of his when he comes to Toronto. I have a few of his CD's, as well as the book that you mentioned; I even got Lang Lang to sign them. Bounce

There are quite a few Asian virtuoso musicians, and many more to come. Asia is the new world, drawing on the beauty of the old world, and making it even more dynamic and vibrant than it was.



Love, Inda
Last edited by Inda
quote:
Originally posted by dear Inda:
There are quite a few Asian virtuoso musicians, and many more to come. Asia is the new world, drawing on the beauty of the old world, and making it even more dynamic and vibrant than it was.



Love, Inda
What would Chairman Mao think, his great, vast, huge country, will save Classical Music, and perhaps.. even.. capitalism.. he he.. Aaah Asian Laughing

Maybe I had better become Teoteo because another hero of mine is Yoyo!

Yoyo-Ma's Silk Road Ensemble is amazing because they truly bring east and west together, and I have seen Yoyo talking to Itzhak Pearlman (spleling?) in the context of he is taking over "carrying on the traditions" of virtuoso classical performance. He was asking Pearlman about how he does things, in a way, that showed that it's not strictly the purview of the great Jewish performers anymore.

Reading this book, amazingly, there are 40 million piano students in China now. This is staggering! In a sense though, it may keep sales of classical music, and concerts in business! Yay! Applause Applause


Though in this economy, I don't know if the people Sue mentioned, fans of "deafening noises that inflict pain on your eardrums" may be in for some losses.. he he.. Doggy Ren DevilTail SystemError LOL


Love and *LIGHT* *BEING*, Teo Do (Re, Mi, Fa, Soul....) Elephant Clap Violin CoolDance CoolDance Beethoven

Have the heart of a gypsy, and the dedication of a soldier -Beethoven in Beethoven Lives Upstairs

quote:
China's love for classical music can often be naive. There's a joke I like to tell about a group of record producers who greeted the pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy in their boardroom to discuss a new recording of Chopin's waltzes. The producers sat silently until Ashkenazy asked they should begin the meeting. "Shouldn't we wait for the composer?" one of them asked... Somebody also asked me whether Elise plays better than Beethoven



This is very funny Teo Smile Laughing
Thank you.

I have Lang Lang's book, and quite a few of his CD's. I truly admire him.
I have seen him in concert and love his playing. He gets so very animated and really emotionally involved with the music that he is playing.





There are so many talented Asian musicians at the moment, and I am sure that we will see many more in the next few years. Asian Violin

Love,
yoko

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