The Disney Book

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The Disney Book traces the history of music in Disney films from the 1920s to the present day and includes new versions of songs from Pinocchio and The Jungle Book to Frozen and Encanto. Lang Lang explained, “Animation sparked my imagination and transported me to other worlds. The music was a big part of this experience – and led to my life-long love of classical music. There is such a variety of styles in Disney songs; truly, something to inspire everyone. I hope that people of all ages will enjoy this recording and experience the joy that we all felt the first time we saw a Disney film.” Watch Lang Lang’s video for ‘Feed the Birds’ The combination of Lang Lang and Disney demanded and received extravagant musical arrangements. The pianist recalls learning from the experience of making his New York Rhapsody album, in which he often played second fiddle to the recording’s raft of vocalists. “This taught me a huge lesson,” he observes. “Sometimes you make mistakes, especially in a new area which you’ve never explored before. But for The Disney Book, I said to my team, ‘We need to find the best transcribers.’ People like Stephen Hough, Thomas Lauderdale, Natalie Tenenbaum from the Juilliard School of Music, David Hamilton—the best musicians who can make the most amazing arrangements. We built up this army of incredible piano transcribers and then worked really hard to make sure that this album was not going to be like ballroom music.” Acclaimed pianist Lang Lang launches his new album The Disney Book, filming the music video for his new single ‘Feed the Birds’ at sunrise in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Park in California.

Lang Lang Preps ‘The Disney Book (Extended Edition Lang Lang Preps ‘The Disney Book (Extended Edition

The album’s first single releasing today is a song beloved by fans and heralded as Walt Disney’s favorite song from“Mary Poppins:” ‘Feed the Birds.’Captured as dawn broke over the iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle at the Disneyland Park, the music video captures the magic of Lang Lang’s album and of Walt Disney’s legacy. Watch the magic of that morning unfold and enjoy this beautiful new arrangement of ‘Feed the Birds!’ The Disney Book features star guests including Andrea Bocelli, Jon Batiste, Sebastián Yatra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robert Ziegler. Lang Lang’s new album The Disney Book, released on 16 September 2022, traces the history of music in Disney films from the 1920s to the present day. This enchanting musical journey features new versions of songs from Pinocchio and The Jungle Book to Frozen and Aladdin, reimagined for solo piano or piano and full orchestra especially for him by some of the world’s top arrangers. Lang Lang explained, “These new versions were virtually composed into my fingers …I wanted something really artistic and pianistic.” Superstar pianist Lang Lang has sold millions of albums around the world, topping classical charts and achieving simultaneous mainstream success. As a pianist, educator and philanthropist he has become one of the world’s most influential and committed ambassadors for the arts in the 21st century.

The album will be released on 16 September on Deutsche Grammophon in collaboration with Disney Music Group, and the first single, ‘Feed The Birds’ from 1964 film, Mary Poppins, is already out. If I had to choose one Disney melody,” says Lang Lang, “it would have to be ‘When You Wish Upon a Star.’ That’s so symbolic. I originally asked Pharrell Williams to sing this. He freaked out! He’s like, ‘You can ask me to do something else. But this song, I’m afraid to sing it. Everybody knows the melody—it’s really hard to sing.’ It seemed like nobody wanted to do it. So, I asked Gina, ‘What do you think?’ She said, ‘Look, I’m a pianist, not a real singer. Let’s do it.’ And she sings it beautifully!” The inspiration for this album came from Lang Lang’s own personal journey and history with Disney films. Lang Lang shares, “Animation sparked my imagination and transported me to other worlds. The music was a big part of this experience – and led to my life-long love of classical music. There is such a variety of styles in Disney songs; truly, something to inspire everyone. I hope that people of all ages will enjoy this recording and experience the joy that we all felt the first time we saw a Disney film .” Fri, July 28, 2023 New Ghoulishly Delightful Ways to Celebrate ‘Haunted Mansion’ Film at Disney Parks Lang Lang is joined by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the special, with performances of Disney classics including “Let It Go”, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”, “You’ll Be in My Heart,” with Alfie Boe and “When You Wish Upon a Star” with his wife, Gina Alice.

Lang Lang – The Disney Book (2022, CD) - Discogs Lang Lang – The Disney Book (2022, CD) - Discogs

In 2016, the multi award-winning pianist was invited to perform at the grand opening of Shanghai Disney Resort and wowed the audience with a spectacular classical reimagining of the 2014 Frozen anthem, ‘Let It Go’.

Similar to his hugely successful 2019 album Piano Book, a collection of Lang Lang’s favourite pieces as a child which he hoped would motivate young musicians, The Disney Book aims to inspire people of all ages to explore classical music. Celebrating 100 years of Disney, Lang Lang’s new album features iconic melodies from Pinocchio to Encanto, all reimagined for the piano. Collaborators on the album include the operatic tenor, Andrea Bocelli, singer-songwriter and pianist Jon Batiste, and Colombian singer-songwriter Sebastián Yatra. The Disney Book features star guests including Andrea Bocelli performing ‘You’ll Be in My Heart’ from Tarzan; singer-songwriter and pianist Jon Batiste with ‘It’s All Right’ from his Oscar-winning Soul score; Colombian singer-songwriter Sebastián Yatra with ‘Dos Oruguitas from Encanto as well as guitarist Miloš, Chinese erhu player Guo Gan, Lang Lang’s wife Gina Alice, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robert Ziegler.