Yi Xuanjun is often asked a question, what is the level of piano playing by Lang Lang's wife, Gina Alice? Recently, Gina released her debut solo album "Wonderworld" through Universal Music, which may give you an answer.
This double-CD album contains a total of 28 works, and the tracks are both mixed with things, from classic works to contemporary film and television, as well as Gina's original "Return Song". These works can become the entry point for understanding Gina herself.
Gina Alice was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1994 to a German father and a Korean mother. She learned to play the piano at the age of 4, made her debut in public at the age of 7, and won the German Youth Piano Competition at the age of 8, and has since begun her musical path.
Gina in childhood
At the age of 10, she won the International Piano Competition in Wiesbaden, at the age of 12 at the Youth Piano Competition in Munich, at the age of 15 she entered the Frankfurt Academy of Music and Performing Arts to study piano, and at the age of 18 performed Mendelsohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Berlin Orchestra at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall.
In the following years, Gina has successively cooperated with domestic symphony orchestras such as the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, and in 2017 was invited to give a recital concert at the Ruhr Piano Festival, the world's largest piano music festival.
In this way, Gina's piano path is very orthodox. Her first solo album Wonderworld also opened with a set of works by romantic and late Romantic composers, such as Schumann's Childhood Scenes, Rachmaninoff's Prelude in D major, and Brahms's Interlude. In addition, the works of composers such as Eric Satie, Debussy, Schumann/Liszt, and Chopin are also included on the album.
In recent years, Gina's artistic focus has gradually shifted to the East. In the album, there are both Hisaishi Jean's "Life Carousel", Sakamoto Ryuichi's "Works", and "Rainbow Chasing the Moon" and "Water And Grass Dance" that Chinese audiences, especially the little piano children, are very familiar with.
Since appearing in the public eye with Lang Lang, Gina's closeness and study of Chinese culture have made the audience feel good, which is not full of Orientalist fantasies or overlooks, but sincere integration and understanding.
In the variety show "Happiness Trio", Gina's personality has countless fans for her. She was not squeamish or pretentious at all, and she picked up the big suitcase and walked away, and when she saw the bugs, she stomped to death.
A pure Northeastern dialect is in strong contrast with her beautiful and slender appearance, and iconic Northeastern dialects such as "whole", "what a thing", "leveraged" and "suppressed" are used quite skillfully.
Some netizens joked that Gina did not open her mouth, and as soon as she opened her mouth, she directly changed from a white swan to a northeast goose. Therefore, everyone also gave her a very regional Chinese name, Ji Fengzhi.
This video of northeast chinese flying around, Yi Xijun really watched it once and laughed once.
It is hard to imagine that Gina, who now has a heavier taste in the northeast than Lang Lang, would not say a word of Chinese a few years ago. When promoting the new album this time, Gina revealed that her mother-in-law (note the pronunciation is: pepe) is her best Northeastern oral language teacher and has always been very patient.
So, is Chinese culture really so difficult to learn and understand? I advise those who covet the Chinese market and have an arrogant attitude, show some sincerity, and don't always do the business of eating and smashing pots.
Lang Lang also contributed a lot to Gina's album this time. In addition to providing advice on the emotional treatment of the work, he also served as the producer of the album, and has been in the studio with the recording engineer, strictly demanding every timbre and effect.
Live performance and recording are two different forms of artistic expression, with the latter expecting more precise and rigorous expression. In this cooperation, Gina was "shocked" by Lang Lang's professional attitude.
There is no little piano boy who did not have Lang Lang's name in his childhood, and Gina is the same. At the age of 10, she saw Lang Lang's concert for the first time, and throughout her piano career, Lang Lang has always been an "idol".
The little fan sister Gina never hesitated to express her admiration for Lang Lang, and Lang Lang also thanked Gina for her support. A few years ago, Lang Lang suffered from tenosynovitis in his left hand due to excessive practice, and concert after concert was postponed and cancelled, and for the performer, there was really nothing more terrible than this.
Until now, Lang Lang still sees that time as the darkest moment, "I heard a lot of hurtful voices, and I saw another side of the world." In those days when he didn't want to be thought back too much, Gina gave him understanding and spiritual support. This experience made the two more determined to go on.
On this album, Gina and Lang Lang recorded two four-handed joint works by Brahms, in which "Waltz" has a warm melody, which makes Gina feel like a child when playing. They also specially dedicated this piece as a gift to their son, who was just born this year.
The identity of the mother subtly affects Gina's attitude to music, for example, now, she understands the deep meaning of Brahms's "Lullaby" in the album tracks, and Chinese children's songs have basically been learned.
During the recording of the album, Gina also admired the power of modern women. Questions such as "how to balance family and career" will always be asked, and Gina admits that on the basis of maintaining the level of daily practice, it is indeed not easy to have an additional responsibility for raising children.
Every mother who still insists on pursuing her career deserves our respect. However, Yi Xuanjun also hopes that women will be asked fewer similar questions in the future.
Will the children of the two pianists also embark on the road of music in the future? In the past, the heavy family education that Lang Lang received had many controversies, but now it can be seen that they intend to give their children more freedom. Whether or not to become a pianist or a musician is up to the children themselves. However, the little guy has shown a strong interest in music, when his parents play the piano, he is always very excited, Lang Lang also found that the child's hands look exactly like him, very suitable for playing the piano.
All in all, the release of the new album is a whole new starting point. I hope that Gina's path to classical music can go further.
-END-
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