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Chinese pianist Lang Lang has won plaudits for his mastery of the classical repertoire, performing with conductors from Daniel Barenboim to Simon Rattle. But his extrovert performances of works from Chinese folksongs to Metallica and Herbie Hancock have also inspired millions of children to learn the piano. <\/strong><\/p>\n On his new album, The Disney Book,<\/em> Lang Lang presents iconic movie melodies, reimagined in new versions written especially for him by some of the world\u2019s leading arrangers.<\/p>\n Here, Lang Lang reveals the music that has helped to mould him as a performer.<\/p>\n \u2018Tchaikovsky\u2019s Piano Concerto No. 1<\/strong><\/a> is my all-time favourite, as well as the piece that launched my career. I listened to it in my little dormitory at the Shengyang Conservatory, and I was amazed at how powerful classical music could be. Before that I had listened to beautiful Mozart, but one day I heard these huge chords at the opening of the concerto, and I thought, \u2018Wow!! This is something.\u2019 Later this concerto launched my career when I played it with the Chicago Symphony [standing in for Andr\u00e9 Watts], and I\u2019ve played it many times since.<\/p>\n \u2018As a ten-year-old in 1992 I watched a video cassette of Glenn Gould playing Bach\u2019s Goldberg Variations<\/em><\/strong><\/a> on my small television. I\u2019d never heard Bach played this way. Such a strong personality! You think of Bach as being economic, but the way Gould played it was like a Picasso \u2013 he totally changed the shape, the melody, the voice, the articulation. It was the same material, but he turned it into another, amazing creature.<\/p>\n