by Patrice Downing, Contributing Writer
October 24 of last year marked another in the ever-growing list of events taking place to celebrate Disney’s first 100 years. World-renowned concert pianist, Lang Lang, played a very special concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, featuring a collection of Disney classics spanning the century.
A lot of the time, when watching a concert from home, I find myself checking to see how much time is left, but that didn’t happen here. In fact, by the time it got around to what was clearly the final song of the event, I found myself wanting more. Maybe it was the more dramatically composed renditions of songs I’ve known for years coming to life in a new way? Or perhaps my love of documentaries took over, as there were a surprising amount of biographical images and interviews interspersed between songs? It could also be the fact that clearly the song selection had been edited down from the actual event and curated to fit into a more compact time frame, but regardless of the reason, I want more of Lang Lang playing Disney!
I’ve enjoyed these types of musical specials since childhood, and in general they’ve all followed a pretty similar format, especially over the past 20ish years. An evening of Disney musical staples, hosted by either a popular pair from their stable of original content, or sometimes just a solo host with some pop culture sway. We get treated to a lot of clips on screens behind performers and usually some fun dance routines or character antics typically ending with a firework or light show in front of a castle. Lang Lang Plays Disney is refreshingly different.
There is not a screen on the stage, with the exception of the teleprompter hidden inside the piano lid, and there are no colorful distractions to take focus off the melodic performances. Just Lang, a piano, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the conductor (Andre De Ridder), and the audience. Edited down from the original performance, the streaming event’s setlist consists of:
“Beauty & The Beast”
“You’ll Be in My Heart (featuring the vocal talents of Alfie Boe)”
“Feed the Birds”
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
“Remember Me (guitar solo with Plínio Fernandes)”
“A Whole New World”
“Reflection (featuring Wang Xiao on the erhu)”
“Can you Feel the Love Tonight”
“When you Wish Upon A Star (featuring vocals by Gina Alice)”
“Let it Go”
Though it is slimmed down from the October concert’s setlist, the song selection well represents Disney’s past through present. The only one that felt a little out of place is “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” though I understand its popularity garnered its inclusion, but I would have preferred “Bare Necessities” had made the cut in its place (Lang’s interpretation can be found on YouTube and is worth looking up). “Feed the Birds” is also a little bit of a dower inclusion, but given its significance to Walt Disney himself, it felt right for it to be a part of the event. In the documentary The Boys (2009), Richard Sherman said in Disney’s final months, he often requested Sherman come to his office to play the Marry Poppins classic.Following Disney’s death, “Feed the Birds,” performed by Sherman, is rumored to be the only song to have been played on that piano since. Fortunately the most upbeat offering of the evening follows, with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” This would have been the perfect spot to insert “Bare Necessities,” which could also liven things up, but with the gravitas of a more widely recognizable classic. Blended in between the orchestral performances are two vocalists (Boe and Alice), as well as a guitar soloist (Fernandes), and my favorite featured artist of the evening, erhu soloist, Wang. I’m in no way knowledgeable with regards to musical instruments, arrangements, or composition, but this particular performance stands out from the rest due to the unique sound of the Chinese erhu. In the skilled hands of Wang, the two strings dance under her bow, producing a distinct tone that sounds more like it is singing than being played.
The documentary side of this special is injected sparingly, but is curated cleverly enough to avoid getting off track. Even if docs aren’t your thing, don’t worry, the biographical content is by no means the focus of this special. It pops in between every few songs to add context to Lang’s background and motivation for wanting to produce a Disney-centric concert. I particularly enjoyed one of the last additions when Lang is shown a short from almost 100 years ago with Mickey playing piano. It speaks to the skill of the animators that he found the animation styling true to life concerning Mickey’s interplay with the music.
Overall, Lang Lang Plays Disney is a relaxing time you can either share with the entire family, or flip on for background viewing when catching up on the laundry. It’s not a huge investment of your time, clocking in at under an hour, and you get the bonus of learning about the artist along the way. The new interpretations are recognizable enough for younger viewers to enjoy but different enough to be enjoyable even if you’ve had to hear that same song, on repeat, hundreds of times on kindles dancing through your house (“Let It Go,” I’m looking at you).
Rating: Liked It
Lang Lang Plays Disney is currently streaming on Disney+
You can follow Patrice Downing on Twitter, Serializd, and Letterboxd