WPR Music new album of the week: Lang Lang’s ‘Piano Book 2’ 

In 2019, pianist Lang Lang recaptured the thrill and wonder of his early days on the instrument with “Piano Book,” a double album of short piano pieces for musicians of every skill level, from familiar favorites to virtuoso encores. Six years later, he’s followed it up with a sequel, which casts an even wider net across the piano repertoire. 

“Piano Book 2” features 32 more piano miniatures, from the familiar etudes and preludes many of us first learned as youngsters to more recent discoveries. It even includes a few pieces that were suggested by Lang Lang’s many fans around the world.

Many of the pieces in this new piano book will be instantly familiar to anyone who has ever taken a piano lesson. Here, Lang Lang wants to remind us to find the joy and the beauty in these pieces, and his performances of works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Frederic Chopin reflect that.

But the album also features a few pieces from far beyond the standard repertoire, including soundtrack highlights from video games like “Final Fantasy X” and “Genshin Impact,” plus excerpts from the scores to films and animated shows like “Naruto” and “La La Land.”

Most interestingly, “Piano Book 2” includes a few pieces that have become famous on the internet, like “Rush E” by Andrew Wrangell and “Icarus” by Tony Ann, which is heard in a piano duet with the composer.

There are even a couple of surprises along the way. All of this helps to remind us that the piano repertoire is always growing, and that anything that inspires us to make music should be celebrated.

“Piano Book 2” is available now from the Deutsche Grammophon label in two CD and two LP formats, and as a special limited edition with the sheet music to these pieces, so any aspiring pianists can play along.