Lang Lang: Virtuoso pianist or ‘flashy’ showman?

Independent – London,England,UK

A preview of the celebrity and controversy surrounding Lang Lang, as he prepares to perform at the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Tiannenmen Square on Friday  UK daily reveals the early career-molding Chopin influence on the world’s most recognizable Chinese pianist…

He played the complete Chopin études at 13, and won the Tchaikovsky junior competition in Japan with Chopin’s E minor concerto. That work has always meant a lot to him, he says, “though at 13 I was too young to understand the pathos of Chopin’s love for that girl, which she didn’t return. My father told me not to think about the emotional situation, just to think about a beautiful landscape – and about my mother! That worked very well.” Chopin chimes perfectly with what he now describes as his crusade: he’s always trying to reach young audiences, “and Chopin is the perfect composer for that. His music is so universal that even people who don’t like classical music like it.”

Poland Rejects Testing Chopin’s Heart

By admin

From the Current World News blog, Polish officials say “Nevermore!” to the idea of exhuming Chopin’s heart for testing…

Scientists want to see if composer Frederic Chopin — whose heart rests in a Warsaw church, preserved in alcohol since his 1849 death — died of cystic fibrosis instead of tuberculosis, as was thought at the time. But Poland thinks this is no excuse to disturb one of its key relics. “The heart lies in a jar sealed inside a pillar at Warsaw’s Holy Cross Church _ and the only time it has been removed was for safekeeping during World War II.

Before it was returned in 1951, a doctor examined the heart and found it perfectly preserved in an alcohol that many think is cognac. Chopin died in France, where his body is buried, but he asked that his heart be sent to his homeland.