Pianist Lang Lang braved the winter chill to perform an open-air concert at Hong Kong Disneyland, to the delight of around a thousand fans with tickets and many more outside craning their necks for a glimpse of the Chinese virtuoso.
Playing on the stage of the Castle of Magical Dreams at the theme park on Lantau Island, and flanked by Mickey Mouse and a cast of Disney characters, he romped through a playlist of 14 songs in 45 minutes.
The father of a three-year-old son, Lang Lang, whose first visit to a Disneyland was in Tokyo when he was 13 after he had won the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, said playing at the park was “a dream come true”.
He had wanted to play there ever since it opened to visitors in 2005, he said.
“I hope I can play in Hong Kong every year,” he added. “Audiences in Hong Kong know both Western and oriental music well and they respect the arts.”
Lang Lang began the January 27 concert with “Love the Memory”, the theme song from Momentous, Disneyland’s nighttime light show. That was followed by songs from Disney film such as “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” (The Lion King) and “Let It Go” (Frozen). He finished with the anthem of global unity, “It’s a Small World”.
Disney songs are familiar to everybody, so the arrangement can’t be too ‘weird’ … [The music] is perfect by itself and we can’t spoil it
The concert saw him perform “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Cinderella and “Do You Wanna Build A Snowman” from Frozen for the first time in public.
To the crowd’s delight, singers and actors appearing as Elsa from Frozen, Miguel from Coco and Belle and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast made their appearances one by one.
Lang Lang said he deliberately held back from overly creative arrangements.
“Disney songs are familiar to everybody, so the arrangement can’t be too ‘weird’ or it would destroy people’s childhood dreams,” he said. “[The music] is perfect by itself and we can’t spoil it.”
For Lang Lang, Disney “is a world with dreams” for people of any age. “I played in Saudi Arabia before and the Middle East also likes Disney,” he added. “Disney is really worldwide.”
One of the most respected pianists of his generation, Lang Lang has increasingly turned to popularising classical music in recent years.
Fiona Yu Ting, production director at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, said Disneyland’s cooperation with the pianist was “part of efforts to elevate music performances at Disney over the past few years”.
Music had always been part of the company’s DNA, she said. “Music is a part of our animation. We use music to tell stories.”
After Hong Kong, Lang Lang will play Disney songs this year in Toronto, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. He is also continuing his busy touring schedule as a pianist, with classical music concerts planned for Beijing and Chengdu as well as numerous cities in Europe and North America.