Lang Lang is one of the most famous pianists in classical music.

Lang Lang

Today we’re looking at his seven most popular performances of classical music on Youtube (for today, we’re leaving aside his crossover performances with non-classical artists).

We’re also looking at each performance’s heatmap, which will show moments that viewers returned to again and again.

In reverse order, here are Lang Lang’s seven most popular classical Youtube performances, starting with the least popular and working our way up.

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5

5.2m views

Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto is his best-known work in the genre. It is nicknamed the Emperor: a fitting name given its regal character.

This performance dates from 2012. It is prefaced by a five-minute interview with conductor Christoph Eschenbach. A full performance of the concerto follows.

The most popular moment of the performance is the opening to the second movement, a hushed and hymnlike adagio.

Although Lang Lang is often hailed for the brash extroversion of his playing, some of the best moments in this performance come during the times he plays very quietly. For instance, check out the breathless, sparkly passage beginning at 11:05.

Another favorite moment of listeners’ is the last few minutes of the concerto, which begin peacefully…then finish in an exhilarating surprise flourish!

Beethoven: Appassionata Piano Sonata, Mov. 3

5.3m views

Beethoven wrote his Piano Sonata No. 23 – nicknamed the Appassionata – around 1804, about the same time that he was coming to grips with his ever-worsening hearing loss.

Lang Lang is often celebrated – and criticized – for his theatrical performing style. Some listeners are attracted by it, while others are turned off by it.

Love it or hate it, this performance of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 23 – nicknamed the Appassionata – has that theatrical style in spades.

As Lang Lang plays, he mouths silent words, bounces his knees, and draws the fingers of his free hand to his lips. It’s almost as if he’s conducting his own performance.

The most popular part of the video is the final minute, which consists of a speedy virtuosic flurry of notes.

Chopin: Grande Valse Brillante

5.8m views

Chopin wrote this waltz in 1833, when he was 23. It was the first waltz he ever published, but it has since become one of his most famous.

This is a waltz in a very loose sense: the tempo is too fast for anyone, much less a couple, to comfortably dance to!

However, the frantic speed does lend itself to being a satisfying virtuoso encore.

The spiky passages featuring repeated grace notes are especially striking (for one example, see 2:15).

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1

7.5m views

Orchestre de Paris

Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto is one of the most popular piano concertos of the Romantic Era, so it makes sense that it’s among Lang Lang’s most popular videos.

The visuals are that of a classic Lang Lang performance: chin high, head jerking, eyebrows raised.

At 34:55, he ends the performance with a staggering display of virtuosity: it’s all so fast, a variety of musical elements all blur and run into each other! It’s not surprising that the crowd goes wild.

Liszt: La Campanella

8.8m views

Liszt’s La Campanella (“The Bell”) is a transcription of a violin work by virtuoso Nicolo Paganini.

Liszt wanted to create a version that was just as difficult for piano as Paganini’s was for violin, and he certainly succeeded. It’s now one of the best-known piano showpieces of all time.

Lang Lang’s playing here is so intense that at several points, the audience starts applauding mid-piece: a rare occurrence in the modern-day concert hall. (For instance, check out the 2:30 mark, where his two-handed trill looks like the wings of a hummingbird flapping.)

The most-replayed portion of the performance comes around 4:00, the climax of the piece. By the end, it’s a miracle the piano’s still standing, and the audience loves it.

Beethoven: Für Elise

11m views

Beethoven composed his Bagatelle No. 25 – commonly known as Für Elise – in 1810, but it wasn’t published until long after Beethoven’s death, in 1867.

Nowadays, it’s one of the most famous pieces Beethoven ever wrote.

The work is not technically difficult or flashy, and is often tackled primarily by student pianists. However, here Lang Lang approaches it as a world-renowned virtuoso.

It’s a gentle and sensitive reading: very different from the flashy showmanship present in so many of his other performances of virtuoso repertoire.

The most popular moment in the video is around 2:30, when he plays triplet arpeggios and a chromatic scale that leads into the final statement of the work’s famous melody.

Mozart Rondo Alla Turca

16m views

Watch the video here.

This is Lang Lang’s most popular performance on Youtube with 16 million views: the third movement of Mozart’s eleventh sonata, also known as the Rondo Alla Turca.

He takes the Rondo at an extremely rapid pace. You can see the musicians behind him smiling and reacting.

One highlight is around 0:33, a passage featuring some truly extraordinary finger agility.

He uses a Romantic playing style that a purist might argue would be more fitting for a performance of Liszt than Mozart, but it’s impossible to deny that the audience was dazzled.

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