Join Lang Lang for a special release-day presentation from Beijing

“This is a very important dream-come-true moment”, says Lang Lang.

The superstar pianist, who waited 20 years before playing Johann Sebastian Bach’s monumental composition in public, has finally achieved his goal of recording the Goldberg Variations. The result of two decades of deep study and personal reflection, his vision of Bach’s Aria and 30 Variations is out now.

Lang Lang will mark the global release of his new album today with a special introduction from the historic Temple (东景缘, Dongjingyuan) in Beijing – site of the old imperial printing house and a former Buddhist shrine, meticulously renovated in recent years to preserve its multi-layered history. The pianist will perform extracts from the Goldberg Variations and talk about the intense personal connection he feels to Bach’s music. You can watch it here: 

Also available from today is a super deluxe edition featuring not only Lang Lang’s studio recording but a performance captured live in concert at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, where the composer worked and is buried. This coupling of studio and live recordings, a world first for the “Goldbergs”, offers fascinating insights into the art of interpretation. Lang Lang’s performances intensify the work’s breath-taking blend of contrapuntal complexity, diverse musical styles and life-affirming spontaneity.

Fuelled by a lifelong passion for one of the most challenging but rewarding compositions in the entire classical repertoire, Lang Lang’s latest album represents a major milestone in an already stellar career. “I would say performing and recording this concert leads me into the next level of piano playing,” he explains. “I’m now 38 and, while that’s not old, I think the time was right for a new stage in my artistic development,” he adds. “I’ve moved into new terrain with the Goldberg Variations and really immersed myself fully in this project. My goal as an artist is to keep becoming more self-aware and more knowledgeable, as well as to keep offering inspiration to others. It’s an ongoing process, but this project has taken me a little further along the path.”

Everything the pianist does is underpinned by his belief that “music makes life better – it heals, unites and inspires, and it makes us better people”. The Goldberg Variations is his latest musical offering and aims to encourage a new generation of fans to explore Bach’s astonishing work.