The Piano review – cockle-warming TV with a major problem at its core
As people play their hearts out on station platforms, this is undoubtedly stirring stuff – but there’s always been something terribly odd plaguing it too
December 2023
TV review
The Piano at Christmas review – so moving it’s spine-tingling
The talent show’s festive edition is a generous-spirited joy, which catches up with past contestants and introduces celebrity guests. It warms the cockles of your heart
November 2023
Lang Lang/RPO/Wigglesworth review – virtuosic pianism as sonic warfare
The superstar pianist played Saint-Saëns’ second piano concerto to a rapt hall and was joined by his wife for Carnival of the Animals. Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite gave the Royal Philharmonic a chance to shine
April 2023
Piano fever sweeps UK as online lessons and street instruments fuel take-up
Outdoor pianos, celebrity names and free tuition videos combine to get Britons tickling the ivories once more
March 2023
Piano sensation Lang Lang delights audience at St Pancras – video
‘That was Lang Lang!’: ‘greatest living pianist’ gigs on St Pancras concourse
February 2023
Tinkling the ivories and tugging the heart strings: is The Piano the most uplifting TV talent show ever?
TV review
The Piano review – Claudia Winkleman’s new talent show is an utter delight
April 2022
Chinese virtuoso Lang Lang to set up ‘piano labs’ in UK schools
Pianist Lang Lang performs 3,454 metres up a Swiss mountain – video
December 2021
Lang Lang review – Bach’s Goldbergs are smothered with love
This was a performance full of idiosyncrasies, of which some brought unexpected delights, but others felt perverse and mannered
September 2020
Bach: Goldberg Variations review – Lavish Lang Lang recording suffocates the magic
He is talented, but the mannerisms and slow tempi turn this into a glitzy exercise with too few flashes of understanding
October 2017
Injured pianist Lang Lang 'borrows' teen's left hand for Carnegie Hall concert
Pianist plays Gershwin at the New York concert hall with a 14-year-old protege literally his left-hand man
October 2016
Life on a plate
Lang Lang: ‘Beethoven was a sausage lover’
The superstar Chinese pianist on the rigours of childhood practice, mum’s home cooking and sharing a flat with his dad and some mice
March 2016
Lang Lang: 'It's about the joy that music can give'
He started playing at two, retired at nine, staged a comeback at 10 – and now has his own perfume and duets with Pharrell. We meet piano superstar Lang Lang
December 2015
Philharmonia/Salonen review – a highly persuasive performance
Chopin: Scherzos; Tchaikovsky: The Seasons review – charmless Lang Lang
November 2015
Philharmonia/Salonen review – formidable dexterity in a bizarrely uneven concert
The skilled conductor just about kept control of Lang Lang’s wayward piano and, despite a chorus lacking in power, the actors were exquisite
April 2015
Lang Lang review – a finely disciplined performance
