Lang Lang on mastering Bach’s Goldberg Variations: it’s made me a better pianist, the Chinese virtuoso says

Pianist says recording Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the church where the composer worked for 30 years was ‘incredible’, and says: ‘I’ve moved into new terrain’

Told he played the work without imagination, the Chinese virtuoso says he sought advice on how to improve, and to get in the right state of mind to master it

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Lang Lang performs at the Asian launch of his recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in Beijing on Friday. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 8:45pm, 7 Sep 2020Updated: 8:45pm, 7 Sep 2020

Chinese pianist Lang Lang may have been playing J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations for close to three decades, but it was only this year that he felt confident enough to make a recording of the work – two, in fact.

“I have been practising it since the age of 10 … playing it is very challenging,” Lang says of the work, written in 1741 for a different keyboard instrument, the harpsichord. “You have to master the pure Baroque way of playing it, while paying attention to the improvisatory parts. [I have to] use my hands, brain and heart when playing it.

“All these years, I kept using my brain to learn [how to play it]. Instead of relying on pure feelings alone, you have to have accumulated knowledge to play it. Your heart also has to be at peace, with nary a stray thought.”

More than a decade ago, when he was in his mid-20s, Lang performed the work for Nikolaus Harnoncourt at an informal audition for the Salzburg Festival and was slammed by the Austrian conductor for playing Bach with no imagination.

Lang Lang performs with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra led by Nikolaus Harnoncourt at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2010. When Lang played Bach’s Goldberg Variations for the conductor at an informal audition, Harnoncourt said Lang’s playing lacked imagination. Photo: Getty Images

To improve on his performance, Lang sought advice from leading interpreters of Bach’s music, including Harnoncourt and harpsichordist and early keyboard specialist Andreas Staier.

Lang also credits his first piano teacher, Zhu Yafen, for guiding him in his journey to attain the right state of mind to perform the work – a theme with 30 variations. “She is the best teacher in China to teach Bach,” the pianist says.