The discography of classical pianist Lang Lang includes nine studio albums, four live albums, one single, one compilation, two soundtracks, and three contributions to releases not under his name. His first album was released in 2000 under Telarc International Corporation. In 2003, he signed a contract with Deutsche Grammophon and released several albums with them. In February 2010, Lang Lang signed with Sony Classic.
Lang Lang has recorded two soundtracks, including the score by Alexandre Desplat for the 2007 movie The Painted Veil. He has contributed to several albums of other musicians, including Andrea Bocelli's greatest hits album, The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere. For the piece "Time for Dreams," on his 2008 album Dreams of China, Lang Lang collaborated with German electronica musician Christopher von Deylen. While Lang Lang has also worked with singers like Taiwanese R&B star Jay Chou and Chinese folk singer Song Zuying, none of these collaborations have been published.
Lang Lang has achieved considerable commercial and critical success. His albums have ranked on Billboard charts, including the Top Classical Albums chart.
Studio albums YearAlbum detailsNotes 2003 Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn: First Piano Concertos Released: July 15, 2003 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD Performed with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra 2005 Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2; Paganini Rhapsody Released: February 8, 2005 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD Performed with Valery Gergiev and the Orchestra of Mariinsky Theatre"Valery Gergiev is a strong, spirited collaborator, though in some takes, the piano is slightly out of tune." 2006 Memory Released: March 14, 2006 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD Includes work by Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Robert Schumann"This new CD, 'Memory,' connects Lang Lang to music that he strongly associates with his childhood. Some of these works he learned many years ago, and some he remembers first hearing as a child. Lang Lang takes us from thoughtful moments of quiet reflection to radiant displays of virtuosity." 2007 Dragon Songs Released: January 9, 2007 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD, DVD Includes traditional Chinese music and work by the Central Philharmonic Society, Lü Wencheng, He Lüting, Sun Yiqiang, Du Mingxin, Deng Yuxian, Zu Jianer, Zhao Jiping, and Wang Jianmin"In concert, Lang Lang often gives his audience a taste of traditional Chinese music as an encore. With 'Dragon Songs,' his goal is to open that door even wider." Performed with Fan Wei, Ji Wei, Zhang Jiali, and Long Yu and the China Philharmonic Orchestra 2007 Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 Released: May 8, 2007 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD, DVD Performed with Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris"Eschenbach's elegant influence is most felt in the second movement's Zen-like confrontation between piano and orchestra. Accusations of vulgarity that often dog Lang Lang will be answered here." Nominated for the Best Instrumental Soloist at the 50th Grammy Awards 2008 Dreams of China Released: June 24, 2008 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD Includes "Time for Dreams", a collaboration with German electronica musician Christopher von Deylen This CD was not released in North America. 2008Hess: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Released: August 4, 2008 Label: Universal Classics and Jazz Format: CD, DD World premiere recording of new work by Nigel Hess. Performed with Christopher Warren-Green and the London Chamber Orchestra. Commissioned by the Prince of Wales in memory of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Only released in the UK. 2008 Chopin: The Piano Concertos Released: September 9, 2008 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD Performed with Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic"But instead of sparkle and delicacy, [Lang Lang] offers full-beam brilliance and neon cupid's darts. Add a lacklustre, lazy performance from the strings of the Vienna Philharmonic and some grotesquely vulgar phrasing and sluggish tempi from Zubin Mehta, and the E minor Concerto is lost." 2011 Liszt - My Piano Hero Released: September 5, 2011 Label: Sony Classical Format: CD, DVD "Lang pays a very personal tribute to Franz Liszt, to who he has had a special relationship following his very first encounter with the composer at age two. Since this introduction - watching a "Tom & Jerry" cartoon featuring Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody" No. 2 - Lang Lang has gone on to share his passion for classical music and the music of Liszt with concert audiences around the globe. To celebrate his piano hero's bicentenary, Lang Lang has selected some of the most famous, virtuosic and poetic solo pieces, concluding with a stunning new recording of the Piano Concerto No. 1 = accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic and Valery Geegiev".2012Lang Lang - The Chopin Album Released: October 22, 2012 Label: Sony Classical Format: CD, Deluxe CD (incl. Bonus DVD), Vinyl The Chopin Album – Lang Lang's third album for Sony Classical – includes the second set of Chopin’s Études (op. 25), the Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise and a selection of shorter works as well as three Nocturnes and the Waltz op. 64 no. 1, popularly known as the “Minute” Waltz.2013Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 - Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2 Released: October 7, 2013 Label: Sony Classical Format: CD, DVD First recorded collaboration with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Recorded in the Philharmonie Berlin in February and April 2013 The album is accompanied by a captivating 60-minute documentary The Highest Level unveiling the excitement, adrenalin, highs and challenges experienced by the artists and their team creating these recordings. The documentary as well as a complete filmed version of the Prokofiev Concerto were released in October on DVD and Blu-ray.2014The Mozart Album Released: October 17, 2014 Label: Sony Classical Format: CD, Deluxe CD, DVD/Blu-Ray - “Lang Lang at the Royal Albert Hall”, Vinyl The first disc in this two-disc set was recorded in spring 2014 in the Goldener Saal of Vienna's Musikverein and sees Lang Lang and Nikolaus Harnoncourt perform Mozart's two famous piano concerti – K 453 in G major and K491 in C minor – together with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The second disc in the album showcases Lang Lang as soloist in Mozart's three early piano sonatas together with the Rondo alla turca, the Allegro in F major K 1c and the Konzertstück in F major, K 33b. Sony Classical released the concert “Lang Lang at the Royal Albert Hall” on DVD, Blu-ray and digitally along with The Mozart Album in October. 2015Lang Lang in Paris Released: October 9, 2015 Label: Sony Classical Format: CD, Deluxe CD (incl. Bonus DVD), DVD/Blu-Ray - "Lang Lang live in Versailles", Vinyl A studio recording of the repertoire was made in the Salle Liebermann at the Opéra Bastille Including music by F. Chopin and P.I. Tchaikowsky The DVD shows a special recital of Lang Lang at the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles on June 22, 2015 2016New York Rhapsody Released: September 16, 2016 Label: Sony Classical Format: CD, DVD/Blu-Ray-"New York Rhapsody - Live from Lincoln Center", Vinyl Featuring guest artists Andra Day, Herbie Hancock, Jason Isbell, Jeffrey Wright, Jerry Douglas, Kandace Springs , Lindsey Stirling, Lisa Fischer, Madeleine Peyroux, and Sean Jones. Following the release of the album, a concert special Live From Lincoln Center aired on PBS on November 25, 2016, as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival2017Romance Released: October 13, 2017 Label: Sony Classical Format: CD Lang Lang's brilliant showmanship here is channeled through some of the piano's most intimate, tender moments. Romance is an album that captures his playing at its most personal. 2019Piano Book Released: March 29, 2019 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, LPIncludes music by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Grieg, Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Schubert2021Bach: Goldberg Variations Released: April 20, 2020 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD Includes 4 CDs: two record a live performance, and two record a one-take rehearsal
Live albums YearAlbum detailsNotes 2000 Lang Lang: Live At Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood Released: November 30, 2000 Label: Telarc International Corporation Format: CD, DD Includes work by Joseph Haydn, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Mily Balakirev"Truth be told, if this disc crossed my desk without my having heard the excited reports for several years, I might not have given it a second listen. The recording debut could be an accurate portrait of the artist. But if it is, [Lang Lang] doesn't quite live up to the advance praise." 2002 Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 / Scriabin: Etudes Released: April 23, 2002 Label: Telarc Format: CD, DD Includes a Chinese folk song and work by Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin Performed live at The Royal Albert Hall in London with Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic"Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic do their parts well and winningly, and the engineers have done a remarkably fine job capturing this live performance in London's acoustically difficult Royal Albert Hall." 2004 Lang Lang: Live at Carnegie Hall Released: March 2, 2004 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD, DVD Includes work by Frédéric Chopin, Tan Dun, Haydn, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, and Robert Schumann"Lang Lang also acknowledges the support of his mother and father and, if you have caught up with the pianist's Live at Carnegie Hall album, you will have heard the young man delivering a sprightly Chinese piece alongside his father Guo-ren on the erhu, a Chinese bowed instrument." Includes "Horses," a piece arranged and performed by Lang Lang and his father, Lang Guo-ren, who performs the erhu 2010 Lang Lang Live in Vienna Released: August 24, 2010 Label: Sony Classic Format: CD, Deluxe CD (with excerpts from the concert), Blu-ray, DVD, Vinyl, and DD Note that the DVD on the Deluxe CD version does not have many songs. Performed at the Vienna Musikverein"It's become rather fashionable to sniff at the achievements of Lang Lang, but he is the most communicative pianist of his generation, with a huge following in the east, and for any open-minded listener there is seriously good piano playing in this fine recital from Vienna."
Singles YearAlbum detailsNotes 2010 Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 "Heroic" Released: March 16, 2010 Label: Sony Classic Format: MP3 Recorded live at the Vienna Musikverein A portion of the proceeds have gone to UNICEF as a benefit for the 2010 Haiti earthquake"As charitable acts go, Mr. Lang’s offering is certainly preferable to the baffling recent remake of “We Are the World.” But as an artistic statement, it is unlikely to persuade anyone who doesn’t already admire the particulars of his style." 2022 We Don't Talk About Bruno (From "Encanto") Released: July 29, 2022 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD
Compilations YearAlbum detailsNotes 2008 The Magic of Lang Lang Released: February 5, 2008 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD A 13-track compilation containing live and studio recordings
Soundtracks YearAlbum detailsNotes 2006 The Banquet Released: September 11, 2006 Label: Dg Imports Format: CD, DD Soundtrack by Tan Dun 2007 The Painted Veil Released: January 9, 2007 Label: Deutsche Grammophon Format: CD, DD Soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat 2010 Gran Turismo 5: The Official Soundtrack Released: November 26, 2010 Label: Sony Masterworks Format: CD, DD First Original Game Soundtrack by Piano Instruments
Contributions YearAlbum detailsNotes 2005 Breathe: The Relaxing Piano Released: August 23, 2005 Label: Telarc International Corporation