The pianist Lang Lang is primarily associated with the world of classical music, but he has also contributed to film soundtracks including two movies featured on this album: "My Week with Marilyn" and "Kung Fu Panda 3". So he is the perfect artist to deliver a classical/film music crossover album such as "Lang Lang At The Movies". I was initially a little disappointed when I saw the track listing, since the album also contains a number of classical music tracks. Although classical music has often been used in movies, it is pre-existing music which was not specifically written for film. But having listened to the album and heard the approach to "Rhapsody in Blue" in particular, that minor reservation has now vanished. Lang Lang and his collaborators have worked hard to add a Hollywood sparkle to all the music on this album. It therefore feels simultaneously like a true movie album, and also a classical-film crossover release.
The first track is Chopin's Nocturne no.20 in C# minor which featured in the movie "The Pianist" starring Adrien Brody. Lang Lang performs a straightforward interpretation. The "Gladiator Rhapsody" is a virtuoso work for solo piano based on music from Hans Zimmer's score to the film "Gladiator". The film and its music has been very influential, and you used to hear it and its imitations everywhere! Next we have a lively arrangement for 2 Cellos and Piano of the theme from "Live and Let Die" composed by Paul and Linda McCartney. This is full of Bond drama and excitement and it works well as on this combination of instruments. Marilyn's Theme from "My Week with Marilyn" was composed by Alexandre Desplat and arranged by Conrad Pope for inclusion in Pope's film score for the movie. Lang Lang gives us an enigmatic version for piano solo. Having previously introduced cellos to the album's sound palette, for the rousing yet emotional "Flight" sequence from Hans Zimmer's "Man of Steel" the piano is joined by a solo violin and full orchestra.
It's very pleasing find the "Poldark Prelude" on this album. This is based on Anne Dudley's music for the more recent TV Series adaptation of "Poldark". The original theme was for violin and orchestra, and it has been perfectly translated into a solo piano piece. While the two versions are very different, they retain the theme's evocative beauty, painting the atmospheric landscape of Cornwall. Then "Moon River", Henry Mancini's well-known song from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is tenderly sung by Madeleine Peyroux. Lang Lang's piano adopts the role of accompanist along with a string orchestra and dobro guitar. Hans Zimmer's music is given a lot of love on the album, and "Oogway's Legacy" from "Kung Fu Panda 3" is the third piece from the composer. It has an oriental feel with cello, erhu and orchestra. Then we have another classical work, Mozart's famous "Rondo Alla Turca" from the Piano Sonata in A K.331, which featured in "The Truman Show". Lang Lang plays this at breakneck speed, a tempo likely to scare many piano students! Danny Elfman is represented by his many layered Theme from "Spider-Man", and this is presented in an arrangement for piano, violin, keyboards and orchestra.
"The Hateful Eight Overture" comes of course from Tarantino's "Hateful Eight" movie, one of the last major feature films scored by Ennio Morricone and fittingly it is a Western since that is the genre that cemented his reputation in Hollywood. This dark music is a world away from those early Spaghetti Westerns, but shows the composer still at the peak of his musical powers, and in this arrangement the feeling of dread translates wonderfully from orchestral to piano. Leonard Bernstein's music for "West Side Story" is itself something of a crossover, with the classically renowned composer writing one of the best broadway and film musicals. On the musical's "Tonight" Lang Lang's piano takes more of a back seat again to a jazz combo with a brush percussion kit. Scott Joplin's Ragtime favourite "The Entertainer", as featured in "The Sting", is given a playful interpretation by Lang Lang with some embellishments and carefully controlled degrees of "swing" applied throughout the piece. The final track is George Gershwin's masterpiece "Rhapsody in Blue" which in its original form is a mini piano concerto, and which featured in the Woody Allen movie "Manhattan" (among others). The album arrangement is for 2 pianos and orchestra, with the other pianist being none other than the famous jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. In collusion with the orchestra, these pianists have given their own playfully upbeat spin on Gershwin's music with a few extra flourishes of Hollywood glamour.
"Lang Lang At The Movies" features some truly wonderful arrangements of film music for piano or piano combination which you won't find elsewhere, and are brought to life by Lang Lang's amazing pianistic skills together with featured singer and instrumentalists. These are interspersed with some classical piano tracks which have also featured in movies, and these additions help to give the album both breadth and room to breathe. The album is available from these links at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
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