The Chicago Tribune hailed him as "a phenomenal talent;" the New York Times considers him "stunning;" the San Francisco Chronicle described his playing as being "nothing short of breathtaking."

Though Lang Lang has gained a fast-growing reputation in the United States, his name is still unfamiliar to music fans at home.

Fortunately, they will soon be able to enjoy his performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of renowned conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch at the Great Hall of the People on June 1.

Born in Shenyang in Northeast China's Liaoning Province in 1982, Lang Lang started to learn piano when he was only 3.

In October 1998, he made his US debut performing Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy," with Alan Gilbert conducting the Baltimore Symphony.

The following August, what happened was more like a scene from a film or a novel. At the Ravinia Festival, pianist Andre Watts fell ill shortly before his scheduled performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1.

Grasping this dramatic opportunity, Lang Lang stepped in to take a major leap forward in his career, under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach.

The audience did not expect that the 17-year-old Chinese pianist would play so wonderfully, and as the final chords rolled through the concert hall, they jumped to their feet to give him a standing ovation.

The response was immediate and unanimous: The Ravinia Festival re-engaged him for a performance with the Symphony in the summer of 2000.

Lang Lang has shown himself as an artist of maturity and depth well beyond his years.

Lang Lang used to select many difficult pieces to play at his concerts.

In his latest record, he plays the Piano Sonata No 2 by Rachmaninov (1873-1943), which is so difficult that few pianists have recorded it since Vladimir Horowitz (1903-89), who did so in the 1970s.

In the concert at the Great Hall of the People, Lang Lang will play Piano Concerto No 1 of Mendelssohn, a piece he plays particularly well.

He plays with passion, not the pink tea often associated with Mendelssohn, but plunging into fortissimo chords without ever producing a hard sound, and his slow movement is like a prayer without words.

(China Daily 05/24/2001)