Lang Lang

Chinese pianist, Lang Lang reveals his castaway choices.

In a specially extended edition for BBC Radio 4 Extra, Lang Lang shares his life story with Kirsty Young and explains her musical, book and luxury choices.

He was five years old when he gave his first public recital in front of an audience of 800 people. It was a pivotal moment and from that point on it was clear where his future lay. His parents were both musical too but, during the cultural revolution, had not been able to pursue their own ambitions.

Lang Lang was born under the one-child rule and so he was, he says, their only chance. Their aim was that he should become the No.1 pianist in China and in the years that followed, family life was sacrificed to that end.

He is now one of the most famous classical musicians in the world.

DISC ONE: Thriller - Michael Jackson
DISC TWO: Frédéric Chopin’s Waltz in D flat major, Op. 64/1 'Minute Waltz' - Arthur Rubinstein
DISC THREE: O sole mio - Singer: Luciano Pavarotti
DISC FOUR: Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, 2nd movement - Murray Perahia and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
DISC FIVE: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor - Van Cliburn and the RCA Symphony Orchestra
DISC SIX: Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 – Vladimir Horowitz
DISC SEVEN: The Yellow River in Wrath from the Yellow River Piano Concerto - Lang Lang and the China Philharmonic Orchestra
DISC EIGHT: Rhapsody in Blue - Leonard Bernstein

BOOK CHOICE: The Analects of Confucius
LUXURY CHOICE: Two feathered pillows
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 – Vladimir Horowitz

Producer: Christine Pawlowsky

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in September 2011 .