Play It Again, Lang Lang

One of People magazine's 'Sexiest Men', one of TIME’s '100 Most Influential People', UNICEF 'Goodwill Ambassador' – Lang Lang isn't just a world-class pianist, he is a superstar. As the former prodigy approaches 30, Shanghai Talk catches up with the young man who was once described as “the future of classical music” and discovers an artist at the height of his powers going to great lengths in order to give something back to the genre he loves.

Lang Lang, the 29 year old classical music phenomenon from Shenyang, was born and bred to play piano. His mother, a dancer in her youth, played countless hours of western classical music to her pregnant stomach before Lang Lang was even born. When he was a toddler, Lang Lang's father, an accomplished erhu player, spent half his annual policeman's salary to buy a piano in order for the boy to begin lessons.

“I never thought about any other career than becoming a musician,” Lang Lang says. “My dream, since I was two years old, was to become a famous pianist, and ever since then I’ve been fighting for that dream.”

The story of Lang Lang's rise to fame is an oft-repeated tale of parental love and encouragement that on occasion bordered on obsession and abuse. He won his first music competition at the age of five in Shenyang, and by age nine the boy and his father moved to a tiny, unheated apartment in Beijing and lived off whatever funds his mother could send them from her meagre salary. The plan was to get Lang Lang admitted into the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music, but his teacher in Beijing (who Lang Lang nicknamed “Professor Angry”) told them not to bother, as the boy wasn't good enough.

Relating this story to The Guardian earlier this year, Lang Lang said: “It's really hard to talk about. My father went totally nuts. He said: 'You shouldn't live any more – everything is destroyed'.”

Of course, history shows that the extreme pressure put on Lang Lang by his parents and teachers was a major motivator for the youngster. Rather than jumping off a balcony to his death (his father's suggestion), the younger Lang redoubled his piano practice and was admitted to the conservatory shortly after. Two decades later, it's said that he has been the inspiration for more than 40 million children to learn the piano in what has been described as “the Lang Lang effect”.

In hindsight, Lang Lang says he has nothing but thanks and admiration for his parents – who still often accompany him on tour – for not only recognising his gifts, but pushing him to achieve his potential. Despite their seemingly harsh methods, it's difficult to argue with success, and Lang Lang credits much of his to the dedication of his parents.

“I never thought I was that gifted. I’m lucky to have my parents recognise my talent at such a young age,” the musician explains. “After my parents realised my talent and my strong ability to learn, they did anything they could to find my piano teacher. My parents have helped me very much in becoming a world-class pianist.”

Through his hundreds of sold-out recitals and concerts in every major city around the world to his performances at the Grammy's (with jazz legend Herbie Hancock) and the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (watched by more than four billion people), Lang Lang has won a legion of fans, from both within the sphere of classical music and beyond it.