Changing the world?

Lang Lang displays musical excellence
at the Rheingau Music Festival,
reviewed by TESS CREBBIN

Many of today's classical music shooting stars are somewhat overrated, relying more on good packaging than actual skill, but this is not the case with the young Chinese pianist Lang Lang. Here, the hype is more than justified. The Wall Street Journal calls him one of the twenty people who will change the world. A critic from the Washington Post wrote: 'If he were a share on the stock market, I'd take out a credit to buy him'. The twenty one year old, who is currently one of the hottest new classical music stars around, performed at the Rheingau Music Festival on 10 July 2004.

The Rheingau is a beautiful region stretching along the German Rhine region and its annual music festival is among the most prestigious summer festivals in Germany. The Rheingau Music Festival has an excellent international reputation, being a member of the European Festivals Association (Geneva) and the International Society for the Performing Arts (New York). Each year, it manages to attract some of the biggest names in classical music. It was little surprise the Rheingau was one of the few festivals to present an appearance of Lang Lang who is in so much demand that he turns down more offers than he can accept. If it were up to his worldwide audiences, Lang Lang would be playing forty eight hours a day, and then some ...

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