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Speaker 1

00:10

Good morning. Thanks for being here. I'm very happy to be here for the second time, But the first time I wasn't on the stage. I was just visiting the office.

Speaker 1

00:21

It's a very cool office, I must say. And yeah, so I prepared some morning songs for you to wake up. So a few Chopin pieces. I will start with 1 of the very beautiful nocturne.

Speaker 1

00:40

And then 1 or 2 etudes. And then Chopin waltz. So hopefully we will get really weak after 20 minutes of performance. Thank you.

Speaker 1

01:00

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ You ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

Speaker 2

11:00

You

Speaker 1

11:15

♪ ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

Speaker 2

16:52

Hello, I'm Jeff Spurgeon from WQXR, New York's classical station, 105.9 FM, online at wqxr.org. You may not know, because nobody told you, this is Long Long. He's a classical pianist, reasonably well-known all over the globe.

Speaker 2

17:13

And it's Quite a wonderful thing to hear you play. Let me ask you, what was your warm up for this, just this morning? Did you warm up this morning?

Speaker 1

17:23

When did you, time you touched the piano? I'm sorry, I didn't warm up. I woke up around 10.20, I'm like, oh God!

Speaker 1

17:33

We were like running like crazy. That's great to get here. And I'm really grateful that you are here today, waiting for me. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

17:45

It's really wonderful. Thank you. It's really wonderful.

Speaker 2

17:49

Thank you. It's extraordinary to have all that music just in your hands, just at your command. But that's what you do.

Speaker 1

17:56

Like what Rubinstein said, 1 of the greatest pianists. And he said he has like 60 piano concertos in his head and basically Doing his 70s or 80s. He said just call me up make me up in the middle of the night like let's say 4 a.m And I can play whatever piece you want in concert level.

Speaker 2

18:19

Well, I believe it. But so can you. But so can you.

Speaker 2

18:23

He's had a little more practice over time than you so far. But you'll

Speaker 1

18:28

be there.

Speaker 2

18:30

In China, Lang Lang is credited with influencing some 40 million kids to take up classical piano. Now, I know that 40 million is not maybe a huge number at Google, but still, it's a reasonably large number of people to persuade to take up and when you think about all the pianos that have to be made and all the music that has to be printed and all the lessons that we paid for I would say that you are without question classical music's greatest job creator I don't think there's anybody who's going to do more than that than you are. Longlong's new album on the Sony label is the Chopin album.

Speaker 2

19:07

It contains at its heart the Opus 25 set of a dozen études, studies for piano, that you have been studying since I think you were what, 8 is when you started to play those things?

Speaker 1

19:19

Yeah, I started to play the Chopin Etudes when I was 8.

Speaker 2

19:23

And took them on the road when you were 12 or

Speaker 1

19:25

13? Yeah, I played the complete Etudes when I was 13. Right. And it was very tiring to play those pieces.

Speaker 1

19:35

I mean, it drives me nuts and drives my neighbors nuts. I really feel bad about it. And recently, I started practicing in my apartment here and started practicing Chopin Etudes. And then my neighbor knocked on my door, and said, could you stop?

Speaker 1

19:53

Could you stop? Yeah, yeah. No, no, there's 1 neighbor who knows who I am, so she's always like, oh, that's really wonderful. But then another neighbor, I think, living downstairs, and because I always like to practice after 11, you know, to find inspiration.

Speaker 1

20:13

And this lady, I think she hates me all the time. So anyway, so that's...

Speaker 2

20:18

Well, so you've been playing these since you were 8, playing them in public since you were 13. Why record them now? Why not a little earlier?

Speaker 2

20:27

Why not wait a couple more years? Maybe the wine will mellow a little more in the bottle. Why decide to do these now?

Speaker 1

20:32

I mean, since I'm 30, I like to do some more repertoire which I played a lot when I was a kid, and also putting some new pieces. I actually thought to do the 24 etudes, the complete cycle. But I actually thought maybe I should do something not just technical pieces, but also very artistic pieces combined for the Chopin first solo album for me to record.

Speaker 1

21:06

And also, to hear, I was actually watching the video that I did when I was 13, playing the complete etudes. And I find a few wrong notes. But now, playing a few of those pieces, like the Winter Wind and Ocean Etudes, now it feels slightly easier. Slightly, yeah.

Speaker 1

21:31

So that seems like a good sign. 17 years of practice, my technique is going somewhere. But more importantly, it's the musical sense. There are so many new things I'm trying to interpret in this album, to try to find different colors like you have here, different levels of colors, and the combination of the styling of Chopin, the romantic period of repertoire.

Speaker 1

22:03

And especially last year, I did the list. So I thought this was a nice momentum to do Chopin. So next year will be very different.

Speaker 2

22:12

What's next year?

Speaker 1

22:13

Next year I will do Prokofiev and Bartok. Wow.

Speaker 2

22:16

OK.

Speaker 1

22:16

So it's very, very different. Gnarly. Approach.

Speaker 1

22:18

Yeah. Totally different.

Speaker 2

22:20

Totally different world. There's some unusual pieces on this album. The Andante Spionato and Gran Polonais, big favorite of yours, done with orchestra sometimes, but there's the solo version.

Speaker 2

22:29

You've always liked this piece?

Speaker 1

22:31

Not really. I mean, when I was a kid, I hated it. Because no matter how great the work are, there are so many pianists playing the same piece, not in a very good level.

Speaker 1

22:46

Then you will feel kind of bored. And so that exactly happened when I was a kid. I heard so many interpretations of this piece, I got totally overwhelmed. And I didn't like it.

Speaker 1

23:00

Then I came to America, and I studied at Curtis in Philadelphia. Do you know the Philly cheesesteak? It's pretty good. Yeah.

Speaker 1

23:10

Yeah. Anyway, so in Philadelphia, a boy from Kiev, He also studied with the same teacher as me, Gary Grafman. And he played in the student recital. I was shocked by his playing.

Speaker 1

23:26

I'm like, wow, this piece is spectacular. And then I started to loving this piece, and thanks to him, of course. And So sometimes, 1 amazing performance really changes your entire view of a work. And that's what happens in the Spanato and Grand Polonaise.

Speaker 2

23:47

Nocturnes. You played, actually, a wonderful cross-section of the album just a few minutes ago. There's a piece on this album, it's the last selection, it's called Tristes, and it features a singer named Oland, who is from? Sweden.

Speaker 2

24:01

Sweden. She lives in Williamsburg, because most people do. Right. Yeah, Brooklyn is getting big.

Speaker 2

24:07

It's beautiful. And can you tell me the story of this, because it's from a film. Right.

Speaker 1

24:13

We did a film during the Chopin year called The Flying Machine. So it's basically an adept novel kind of about Poland today and just compared the Chopin days. So I Actually, I was an actor in this movie.

Speaker 1

24:35

My partner was Heather Graham from All-Stars and Powers, the girl. Yeah.

Speaker 2

24:41

Yeah, Heather Graham. Many faces lit up

Speaker 1

24:44

when you

Speaker 2

24:44

said those words.

Speaker 1

24:45

Yeah, right. Anyway, that 1 was a pretty classic. I need a hungover thing.

Speaker 1

24:53

With the baby, yeah. And so that film actually was quite inspiring, because it was Chopin's music and takes the journey of a piano. Actually, the piano became a flying machine. So we take the kids over the world.

Speaker 1

25:11

And so the theme song, we actually thought the Trustees, which is opus 10 number 3, etudes, is such a beautiful melody, which I played. Second to the last. And so we transcribed that to the theme song. So we get this beautiful voice.

Speaker 1

25:29

Her name is pretty funny, O-land. So in the beginning, I didn't know she's a, I mean, it's a he or she. When I heard the voice, I'm all certain it's she. And she did a wonderful job.

Speaker 2

25:45

Yeah, it's a sweet song. And Chopin, lots of people, a lot of popular songs have been written on Chopin themes.

Speaker 1

25:51

Yes.

Speaker 2

25:52

Yeah. And this is another 1,

Speaker 1

25:53

so it's just great.

Speaker 2

25:55

Your foundation, let's talk about that because that's such a big deal. The Long Long International Music Foundation, it's going great Guns. You had some kids, I think, from part of that program on The Tonight Show?

Speaker 1

26:05

Yeah. 2 weeks ago, I was on Jay Leno.

Speaker 2

26:08

4 minutes of classical music on network television. It was extraordinary. It was 4 whole minutes.

Speaker 2

26:14

It was amazing. Nowadays,

Speaker 1

26:17

it's hard to get classical music on the... That's exactly right. Anyway, I mean, Jay is a good friend and yeah, I mean, his name is Jay Jay now, you know, after...

Speaker 2

26:28

After Long Long, right, sure.

Speaker 1

26:32

Oh my god, he has 400 cars. Anyway, let's not talk about that. So we actually had a very fortunate selection of wonderful tenants from Los Angeles area.

Speaker 1

26:49

And they were, I mean, some of the kids, actually, I know them before, because they performed with me, my condition.

Speaker 2

26:54

There were young kids, too. There were 10 of them. So Long Long played, you played some La Campanella and the E-flat waltz that you heard part of here.

Speaker 2

27:03

And then 10 kids, 5 other Steinways around in the room, and they all joined you for the Mozart Rondo alla Turca.

Speaker 1

27:09

Yeah, Turkish march. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I'm not sure you know.

Speaker 1

27:14

And it was so beautiful that I really enjoyed working with them, but the way they played it was magnificent. I mean I thought everyone watching our next generation perform, it's a special moment and for me it's very inspiring. And that's what our foundation wanting to do, to work with the next generation of artists and to helping them, to support them to achieve their dreams. Just like many of the mentors helped me when I was very young.

Speaker 2

27:47

So it's about helping the next generation, not necessarily about classical music? I mean, it is classical focused, I think.

Speaker 1

27:53

Yeah, it will be a focus on classical and piano, but in the same time, we will also to do some event, let's say, with Grammy people and, you know, VHI people. So we are trying to try to break the boundaries through this wonderful project. And I created this 101 pianists project.

Speaker 2

28:22

So everybody... You have 100 pianists with you on stage? Yes.

Speaker 1

28:26

Is that the idea? Yes. And 50 pianos.

Speaker 1

28:28

So people play 4 hands. The reason is that...

Speaker 2

28:31

That's also a great job creator too, just for the movers.

Speaker 1

28:35

I mean, yeah, the movers were quite happy about it. And the reason we wanted is that as a pianist, we always practice by ourselves. Sometimes very lonely.

Speaker 1

28:49

You're in a dark room, much darker than this room. I practice hours and hours. It's hard training. And for a kid, it's important to have a partner.

Speaker 1

29:00

So like 2 kids on 1 piano, so they can talk a little bit. It's like doing your homework, that type of thing. And then the teachers can teach them how to play together, and then in the end, we all get together to play and enjoy the music. Music making.

Speaker 2

29:19

October 30th at Carnegie Hall, the Long Long International Music Foundation is having a big benefit concert and evening with Joshua Bell and Didi Bridgewater and the formerly mentioned Oland. And Alec Baldwin. And Alec Baldwin will be the host.

Speaker 2

29:34

And some scholars. So what's going to happen that night? Just a big bunch of music making, I guess? Yeah.

Speaker 2

29:40

Do you collaborate with everybody? Are you doing something with Didi Bridgewater?

Speaker 1

29:43

Yeah. So here I start to play some Chopin. And then with Josh, we played the Greek violin and piano sonata.

Speaker 2

29:51

Is he JJ also to you?

Speaker 1

29:53

Josh, Josh. OK.

Speaker 2

29:55

Just checking.

Speaker 1

29:56

And then in the second half, we start with 4 hands, 6 hands, 8 hands, and 10 hands.

Speaker 2

30:05

On 1 piano?

Speaker 1

30:06

No. Okay.

Speaker 2

30:07

Just checking. Just

Speaker 1

30:08

checking. Yeah, 10 hands on 1 piano.

Speaker 2

30:11

Well, you'd know each other very well by the end of the piece.

Speaker 1

30:13

You'd be very familiar. That's like Subway in New York.

Speaker 2

30:19

Right. You are a master. At the age of 30, you are a master recognized around the globe. But are you still a student?

Speaker 2

30:27

And do you see any of your old teachers? Gary Grafman was your teacher at Curtis. I know you've done a little bit of work with Daniel Barenboim.

Speaker 1

30:34

Absolutely.

Speaker 2

30:34

When you see them, do you play for them and ask them for their thoughts? Is it a lesson they give you? How does it work at this level where you are in your stage of artistry with these older mentors, I guess you'd call them?

Speaker 1

30:50

Yeah. I mean, my teachers were, and still are, Gary Grafman, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Barnum, and they helped me tremendously. Not just technically, but- I

Speaker 2

31:01

was going to say, they're not going to say, you missed the E flat and the 40th bar. That's not what they do. What do they?

Speaker 1

31:07

Sometimes they do that too. But because the great musicians like those names, They're much more focused on the understanding and also on the traditional interpretations. So they will show you how the traditional sound.

Speaker 1

31:29

And then we will start to discuss about new possibilities of how we recreate those moments, the traditional lines. And then they will help me to find out my ways. I will start to explore some of my ideas on those passages, how I'm going to do it. And obviously, we know that music, there's certain style, but there's not certain rules.

Speaker 1

32:00

So basically, there are a lot of alternatives. And the important thing is how to organize the alternatives and how to balance them, having the right pulse. And this is the challenge, because you can do a lot of interpretations, but if it doesn't balance, if it doesn't, in the end, doesn't make sense, then all those feelings are wasted. And so, first you should explore, and then you need to limit your interpretations into certain ways.

Speaker 1

32:31

And then in the concert, you start everything new again. You know, try to get inspired from the actual stage and to recreate new feelings, new emotion, but aware of that tradition lines, which will hold every, you know, interpretations in the right speed and right pulse.

Speaker 2

32:55

Yeah, well, you're part of that tradition. You're recreating it and making it at the same time. I should say, too, that there's time for questions from all of you here at the end.

Speaker 2

33:05

A little bit. I'll just hold, think of your question.

Speaker 1

33:08

Hold onto it. Hold the line.

Speaker 2

33:09

Yeah, exactly. And I've wondered about the transition from Chinese culture to Western culture for you in music as well. Because you grew up playing this music for a very long time.

Speaker 2

33:26

For me, Chinese classical music is a little bit strange and maybe a little bit difficult to listen to, because I haven't had as much experience with it. You've been steeped in both traditions. Do you hear them the same way or do you switch sort of from 1 to another? And you've put them together too, because you've done lots of piano transcriptions of traditional Chinese pieces that weren't thought of on the piano.

Speaker 1

33:52

It's just like this, you know, when you hear American music, when you hear German music, when you hear African music, it's different. Right. But in the same time, it's all called music.

Speaker 1

34:04

It's like language. In the end, we try to express similar subjects, similar feelings, but using different wording and different language. That's a bit like the music world. I mean, obviously, you need to switch fast with the taste of the music making.

Speaker 1

34:27

But in the end of the day, For example, I grew up both in Chinese traditional music and Western classical, because my father plays erhu, which is Chinese violin. Recently, I found a different, interesting thing of the difference between fork and chopsticks and the difference between Erhu and violin. Did you see the similarity? Yeah, I understand.

Speaker 1

34:59

Erhu has 2 strings and violin has 4.

Speaker 2

35:04

And chopsticks, 2. A fork, usually 4 times. Here we go.

Speaker 1

35:09

So that's the difference.

Speaker 2

35:13

Very good. That's a very good answer. 1 of the things with your foundation, you're helping people to explore classical music.

Speaker 2

35:24

Do you feel like you can make people like classical music? I always, I feel like sometimes it's a sales job. Nobody says, oh my God, you've got to hear rock and roll. You won't believe what this stuff is.

Speaker 2

35:35

Nobody says it. But about classical music, sometimes people say, oh, well, if you haven't heard it, you should maybe listen to a little bit of it. Do you feel like you're ever having to sell it? The idea of it?

Speaker 1

35:47

I mean, my experience I got was pretty funny. It was 2 experiences. The first, I was in America, and then I talk about China.

Speaker 1

35:57

So first in America, I came when I was 15. And then I was in a regular high school in Philadelphia. All those dudes and yammies. And then they asked me, what are you doing in this country?

Speaker 1

36:14

Oh, I'm studying classical music. Classical music? What is that? Oh, I know, I know.

Speaker 1

36:23

Are you playing the dudes who's already passed, like, 500 years ago? You do his work? I said, yeah, it's kind of like that. I said, just think about Shakespeare.

Speaker 1

36:35

I mean, he died for many years. But still, his work is classic. So I know we have a serious problem. And then a few years later, I went back to China for concerts.

Speaker 1

36:50

And then during the CD signings, there's 1 guy came. He's like, I saw that you are recording the same label as Mozart. So you see, it's totally opposite, but somehow it's quite funny. So in a way, that gives us the room to have some work to do.

Speaker 1

37:15

But I don't think we need to sell this art because classical music is so wonderful. People sometimes don't know it. That's it. We just need to use social media networks and platforms.

Speaker 2

37:31

Can you give an example of social media? Just kidding, just kidding. It's Google Talks.

Speaker 2

37:35

It's Google. It's Google Talks.

Speaker 1

37:37

Sorry. Yeah, I mean, remember a few years ago, YouTube had a, like, YouTube Symphony Orchestra competition, and it was a big phenomenon on the internet. And I had a great privilege to be the ambassador for the project. So in the future, today, even when I tweet or Facebook, I start to share some of the musical thoughts, not just talking about food and movies, but to share a little bit of feelings toward the music I play.

Speaker 1

38:13

And then I share some of my favorite links of great musicians perform and, you know, to try to inspire some fans and to listen. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2

38:24

Very good. Thank you. All right.

Speaker 2

38:27

There are microphones over there. So if you have questions, please go to a microphone And we'll line you up and knock you down. Long, long.

Speaker 3

38:35

Hi. My name's Samir. I'm here at Google. I'm a father.

Speaker 3

38:39

I've got a five-year-old and a two-year-old. And for better or worse, my kids are into popular music. And I'm wondering, so making them sit down and listen to better music, to classical music, feels a little heavy handed. Feels a little heavy handed.

Speaker 3

38:59

I was wondering, what have you found really works with kids to get them engaged and interested in new kinds of music, in particular classical music?

Speaker 1

39:07

Yeah. There are a few composers which I felt quite have a really good connection to kids. 1 is Tchaikovsky, pieces like Nutcracker or Swan Lake. And Mozart.

Speaker 1

39:23

Mozart probably is the best composer to inspire the kids. And Chopin also, I would say. Very melodic. But you wouldn't start with Wagner's Ring Cycle right away.

Speaker 1

39:37

That's a little hard. So good luck. Maybe there's a new Lady Gaga comes out. Yeah.

Speaker 4

39:49

Quick question. Along those lines, I have a 4 and a 6 year old and they like, they start and stop things, especially my 6 year old daughter. She's interested now in piano.

Speaker 4

40:00

How do I get that going, keep that going, get her? Because I imagine there will be challenges along the way.

Speaker 1

40:07

First, get a good teacher. It's very important. And Very important, if you have time, please take her to kids' events, kids' concerts.

Speaker 1

40:23

I'm sure Carnegie does a lot of those things, and Lincoln Center. Take her to some of the concerts that other kids perform. Because for me, it was the same. The reason I started liking performance when I was very young, it's because all my friends were musicians.

Speaker 1

40:45

And they were actually playing something. And we can actually play together, like 2 pianos or 3 pianos. Or violin, play a trio, little trio. And music's like language.

Speaker 1

40:59

We need a communication. We need to use our language. If you learn a new language, if you don't use it, you're not interested, and you forget about it. So those communication is very important.

Speaker 2

41:13

I know there's at least 1 more question. It's Just, yeah.

Speaker 1

41:17

I think I can

Speaker 5

41:17

just ask here without the microphone.

Speaker 2

41:20

I'll repeat it. First of

Speaker 5

41:20

all, as a Chinese, I'm very proud of your, you know, everything.

Speaker 1

41:24

Thank you.

Speaker 5

41:25

Like, you know, exporting the Chinese packaging

Speaker 6

41:27

to the world, really good job. My question is for the tech man.

Speaker 5

41:32

Do you have any plan to do some record like Bach or something more classic like a Go-Go?

Speaker 1

41:38

Go-Go variation. Yeah, something like that. Absolutely.

Speaker 2

41:41

Yeah. OK, so the question was, what are your plans for your next recordings? And will you do Bach specifically?

Speaker 1

41:48

Yeah, I mean, I love Bach. When I was a kid, I played Bach's work every week. And I try to memorize a work by Bach every week to train my brain.

Speaker 1

41:59

By the way, After that, you can remember every cell phone number you want. And Bach is really challenging, but incredible. Certainly, I would love to record the Goldberg Variation. Certainly, I will do more classic repertoire records.

Speaker 1

42:20

But it needs to be balanced. So this year and last year, I did a lot of romantics. And then next year will be contemporary. So I'm trying to balance the recordings.

Speaker 1

42:34

Thanks for bringing the Goldberg, by the way.

Speaker 2

42:38

You, sir.

Speaker 7

42:39

So there's a lot of talk about, sorry I'm very tall. There's a lot of talk about bringing classical music to children. And I am in some sense a product of that.

Speaker 7

42:49

My father went way out of his way to play classical music. He really enjoyed it. And I hated it as a kid. And I'm here, so that's obviously not longer the case.

Speaker 7

43:01

But I studied, or at least I was taught classical guitar. And that lapsed for several years while I went to university. And now I'm here, so I guess the lapse was a little worthwhile. But What advice would you give towards adults who have a musical sensibility, who have musical appreciation, and I guess in my case, have, or in more general cases, do not have some degree of musical training, because children are taught at very early age to begin to play classical music or any music in general.

Speaker 7

43:36

Is there any fear that I should have in terms of lack of dexterity, I guess, plasticity of mind? What advice would you give towards adults who want to begin to hopefully, with a lag, reach the kind of level you operate on.

Speaker 1

43:54

You're getting deep. Yeah. This.

Speaker 1

43:57

Wow. Adult. I mean, there's an app called Magic Piano, which I co-produced. I mean, if you feel difficult to play the real piano, try that.

Speaker 1

44:14

It will be easier to play, because somehow it's played by itself. And yeah, you can certainly buy a piano which has a kind of a high tech disc. And then you just push, oh, whoever's Chopin, whoever's Tchaikovsky, whoever's Beethoven. And then you can maybe start to see the positions on the piano and try to follow it.

Speaker 1

44:44

But Again, I'm really welcoming adults actually learning instruments. And especially, you had a musical training before, right? So for you, it will be very easy, actually, to pick it up again, the great work you did before. And maybe now when you do it, you will feel more comfortable.

Speaker 1

45:06

Maybe you will like it more than when you were a kid. And also, classical guitar is pretty cool. And I'm sure when you play, you get some new dates or something. I mean, that's very encouraging.

Speaker 1

45:24

I know some of my friends who study, I mean, who's adults study piano. I say, why are you doing it? Oh, I try to impress the girls. So I know lots of those people.

Speaker 1

45:36

So maybe it's a good encouragement.

Speaker 2

45:41

Choice of instrument can be important for that, too. You'll get more dates with a guitar probably than with an accordion. Just a thought.

Speaker 1

45:47

Guitar is very popular these days. I mean, probably the 1 of the instrument I can think of more popular than piano is probably guitar. I would like to learn it, actually.

Speaker 1

45:57

Guitar. If maybe I should learn some classical guitar skill from you.

Speaker 7

46:05

I'd love to give you a lesson.

Speaker 1

46:09

I got new lessons from you.

Speaker 2

46:11

That's the point.

Speaker 7

46:11

That's the point.

Speaker 8

46:12

He's

Speaker 1

46:13

a very competent teacher. Great. Thank you.

Speaker 1

46:15

Yes, sir.

Speaker 9

46:17

I wanted to ask, when you memorize a piece, is it only technical? Or do you also memorize how you feel? Is it like before you start playing, do you have to get into the emotion of that piece?

Speaker 9

46:30

Or is just the music getting you there when you hear it?

Speaker 1

46:38

Yeah, that's, yeah. First, sometimes I hear great music in my ear, whether it's any type of music. I'm just trying to memorize the melodies first.

Speaker 1

46:53

And I want to somehow play on the pianos. But some work, I know it for many years. And it doesn't mean that you start to love those repertoire right away. Some pieces take a few years to digest.

Speaker 1

47:09

And then you're like, wow, I should do it. And so first comes to the general stuff. You read a score after you're really liking this piece. You want to learn, right?

Speaker 1

47:21

So you learn it from the score, and you play simply, just whether just play by your right hand or putting it together, practice. And after that, you are trying to analyzing the piece and using everything you learned from the past. And your head should be like a multimedia screen. Try to pick a lot of elements and try to put those things inside of the music.

Speaker 1

47:54

Because the most important thing is not the note. It's the things behind the note, the meaning behind the note. So the more meanings you're getting is better for the first work session. And then later, you're just trying to balance the right ones.

Speaker 1

48:14

And you will know the right ones when you're ready. In the beginning, you don't really know. So you try a lot of things. And then later, you will know, wow, this will not work.

Speaker 1

48:22

Because this maybe doesn't fit in the style. And then later, after you really understand the dynamics of the score, you start to recreate things. And then you play for several of your teachers or your colleagues and to get more ideas. And then you start looking into this work again.

Speaker 1

48:46

And then you start performance. And when you perform, every day, every time, you should try different things. And after a year, I think you are ready for recording. Thank you.

Speaker 1

48:58

A lot of alternatives.

Speaker 10

49:01

My name is Itai. I work in Google. I actually have the opposite problem from Samir with my 2 and a half year old daughter.

Speaker 10

49:10

She actually loves classical music.

Speaker 1

49:12

Yeah, here we go. Yeah.

Speaker 10

49:13

And she even goes to sleep while hearing Andrea Buccelli and you playing there, which is very nice. And I have a different question. I want to learn playing the piano myself as well.

Speaker 10

49:25

And I heard

Speaker 1

49:26

of- Wonderful. Wonderful. That's a great idea.

Speaker 10

49:29

I'm pretty old, you know. I'm

Speaker 1

49:30

35.

Speaker 10

49:33

My question is actually 2 part. First of all, I've heard about something called the Suzuki method.

Speaker 2

49:38

Ah, Suzuki method. Yeah, but I

Speaker 10

49:40

heard conflicting opinions about it. So I wonder what's your take on it? And the second part, is it, how do you say it, real ambition to learn to play the piano at such a late age, I mean, and to do even something minimal?

Speaker 1

50:00

Never too late. Suzuki method. Actually, I didn't know that method when I was practicing.

Speaker 1

50:09

And then later, I know the method. But I've been brought up by just playing scales. So I didn't really have any method, try this method or not. I think that's, maybe it's important for some people, but it's not necessary to be focused on 1 method.

Speaker 1

50:29

Because in the end of the day, there's so many ways of playing piano. And you don't want to start with 1 thing in the very beginning, and you just stop with it.

Speaker 10

50:39

Yeah, but I understood the Suzuki method. Both the father and the child are learning together.

Speaker 1

50:48

My father also did that, but it was a different kind of method. He's playing like the strict method.

Speaker 2

50:57

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1

50:59

It doesn't matter. Yeah. But I'm sure it will work for many people.

Speaker 1

51:04

I just didn't brought up by that method. But I'm always, this is a very challenging way to know what is the real right beginning method for kids to learn piano? We're still trying to figure that out. So once I know more about it, I'll let you know.

Speaker 1

51:27

But seriously, you can always learn piano no matter how old you are. I have a doctor friend. He's a wonderful doctor, lives in Germany. And he's now, I think, 50 years old.

Speaker 2

51:43

Good God,

Speaker 1

51:43

50. He start because he always loved the piano, but he never had money to learn when he was very young. He was focused in medicine. Then somehow, after he became a very successful doctor, he wanted to establish his childhood dream, which is to play beautiful songs.

Speaker 1

52:06

And so he started to learn piano when he turned 42. Seriously, this is a

Speaker 10

52:14

good 1.

Speaker 2

52:15

And he found

Speaker 1

52:15

a teacher who was very young, like early 20s, but a very good guy and very solid pianist. So he started learning things from him. And you know what?

Speaker 1

52:28

This 50-year-old doctor just made his family archive recording of 10 of his favorite pieces, including the Schumann Tremor I, Dreaming, including the Schubert Impromptus, including Chopin's Waltz, including Liszt's Consolation. So this guy's only learned a few years, but he has his golden top 10. So he can open a radio show, like top 10. And he plays very beautiful.

Speaker 1

52:57

I mean, technique maybe is not really there, but he certainly put his emotions there, which is more important somehow. And so I'm sure you can do that same. And I'm sure you are much younger than that.

Speaker 10

53:10

So good luck.

Speaker 2

53:12

1 more question. You.

Speaker 8

53:14

So Given the level of evocativeness that you achieve, I have to wonder, do you have some sort of meditative practice other than at the piano? What are your favorite ways to tap into, say, greater levels of humanity?

Speaker 1

53:34

I mean, the first really important thing is taking naps. I'm talking about meditation, right? I mean, That's the first thing that comes to my mind.

Speaker 1

53:48

Because I'm such a night person, I don't sleep well in the night. I just get over my mind with some strange ideas. But during the day, I like to take like 1 hour nap. And then somehow, that calms me down, and I feel great.

Speaker 1

54:05

And also, I think the best way for ourself to get ready mentally is reading books. Read as much as you can. And also, after reading, take a little walk in a park or go to museums. This, for me, is the best way of learning new knowledge and relaxing.

Speaker 1

54:31

And this makes me a much better musician and a human being. Yeah.

Speaker 2

54:36

All right. Thank you. And thanks to everyone here at Google today.

Speaker 2

54:40

And thanks to Long Long. Great. Thank you. Thank you.