Lang Lang has achieved considerable commercial and critical success. His albums have ranked on Billboard charts, including the Top Classical Albums chart.[6][7]
Studio albums
Year
Album details
Notes
2003
Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn: First Piano Concertos[8]
"Lang pays a very personal tribute to Franz Liszt, to who he has had a special relationship following his very first encounter with the composer at age two. Since this introduction - watching a "Tom & Jerry" cartoon featuring Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody" No. 2 - Lang Lang has gone on to share his passion for classical music and the music of Liszt with concert audiences around the globe. To celebrate his piano hero's bicentenary, Lang Lang has selected some of the most famous, virtuosic and poetic solo pieces, concluding with a stunning new recording of the Piano Concerto No. 1 = accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic and Valery Geegiev".
The Chopin Album – Lang Lang's third album for Sony Classical – includes the second set of Chopin’s Études (op. 25), the Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise and a selection of shorter works as well as three Nocturnes and the Waltz op. 64 no. 1, popularly known as the “Minute” Waltz.
2013
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 - Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2[25]
Recorded in the Philharmonie Berlin in February and April 2013
The album is accompanied by a captivating 60-minute documentary The Highest Level unveiling the excitement, adrenalin, highs and challenges experienced by the artists and their team creating these recordings. The documentary as well as a complete filmed version of the Prokofiev Concerto were released in October on DVD and Blu-ray.
Format: CD, Deluxe CD, DVD/Blu-Ray - “Lang Lang at the Royal Albert Hall”, Vinyl
The first disc in this two-disc set was recorded in spring 2014 in the Goldener Saal of Vienna's Musikverein and sees Lang Lang and Nikolaus Harnoncourt perform Mozart's two famous piano concerti – K 453 in G major and K491 in C minor – together with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The second disc in the album showcases Lang Lang as soloist in Mozart's three early piano sonatas together with the Rondo alla turca, the Allegro in F major K 1c and the Konzertstück in F major, K 33b.
Sony Classical released the concert “Lang Lang at the Royal Albert Hall” on DVD, Blu-ray and digitally along with The Mozart Album in October.
Following the release of the album, a concert special Live From Lincoln Center aired on PBS on November 25, 2016, as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival
Lang Lang's brilliant showmanship here is channeled through some of the piano's most intimate, tender moments. Romance is an album that captures his playing at its most personal.
^"Valery Gergiev is a strong, spirited collaborator, though in some takes, the piano is slightly out of tune." Stearns, David Patrick (2005-03-01). "Reviews of new pop, country/roots, jazz and classical releases". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
^"This new CD, 'Memory,' connects Lang Lang to music that he strongly associates with his childhood. Some of these works he learned many years ago, and some he remembers first hearing as a child. Lang Lang takes us from thoughtful moments of quiet reflection to radiant displays of virtuosity." Amacher, Julie (2006-03-21). "New Classical Tracks: Lang Lang's vivid "Memory"". Minnesota Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
^"In concert, Lang Lang often gives his audience a taste of traditional Chinese music as an encore. With 'Dragon Songs,' his goal is to open that door even wider." Amacher, Julie (2007-01-02). "Lang Lang does his bit to balance musical trade". Minnesota Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
^"Eschenbach's elegant influence is most felt in the second movement's Zen-like confrontation between piano and orchestra. Accusations of vulgarity that often dog Lang Lang will be answered here." Stearns, David Patrick (2007-05-23). "Quadruple play from Eschenbach: A quartet of discs from Eschenbach". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. E.1.
^"But instead of sparkle and delicacy, [Lang Lang] offers full-beam brilliance and neon cupid's darts. Add a lacklustre, lazy performance from the strings of the Vienna Philharmonic and some grotesquely vulgar phrasing and sluggish tempi from Zubin Mehta, and the E minor Concerto is lost." Picard, Anna (2009-01-11). "Album: Chopin, Piano Concertos – Lang/Mehta et al, (Deutsche Grammophon)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
^"Truth be told, if this disc crossed my desk without my having heard the excited reports for several years, I might not have given it a second listen. The recording debut could be an accurate portrait of the artist. But if it is, [Lang Lang] doesn't quite live up to the advance praise." Dobrin, Peter (2001-03-26). "Reviews of new classical, pop, country/roots and jazz releases". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
^"Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic do their parts well and winningly, and the engineers have done a remarkably fine job capturing this live performance in London's acoustically difficult Royal Albert Hall." Cantrell, Scott (2002-04-04). "Reviews of new classical music releases". The Dallas Morning News.
^ ab"Lang Lang also acknowledges the support of his mother and father and, if you have caught up with the pianist's Live at Carnegie Hall album, you will have heard the young man delivering a sprightly Chinese piece alongside his father Guo-ren on the erhu, a Chinese bowed instrument." Dart, William (2004-08-11). "Livewire Chinese ambassador brings a passion for piano". New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
^"It's become rather fashionable to sniff at the achievements of Lang Lang, but he is the most communicative pianist of his generation, with a huge following in the east, and for any open-minded listener there is seriously good piano playing in this fine recital from Vienna." Kenyon, Nicholas (2010-09-12). "Lang Lang: Live in Vienna". The Observer. Guardian News. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
^"As charitable acts go, Mr. Lang’s offering is certainly preferable to the baffling recent remake of “We Are the World.” But as an artistic statement, it is unlikely to persuade anyone who doesn’t already admire the particulars of his style." Smith, Steve (2010-03-26). "What Lang Lang Brings to Chopin's 'Heroic' Polonaise". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
