Pianist plays Gershwin at the New York concert hall with a 14-year-old protege literally his left-hand man

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Pianist Lang Lang, nursing an injured arm, found an innovative solution to avoid missing Carnegie Hall’s annual gala on Wednesday – a young protege literally lent a hand.

The Chinese-born pianist, one of the world’s most recognizable classical musicians, was opening the prestigious New York concert hall’s season by playing George Gershwin’s classic Rhapsody in Blue.

But Lang Lang is recovering from an inflammation in his left arm that forced him to cancel several months of concerts. The solution: Maxim Lando, a 14-year-old US pianist, who studied in a music scholarship backed by Lang Lang, was asked to join him and play the left hand.

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He was also joined on a second piano by 76-year-old jazz great Chick Corea.

“With the artistry of the legendary Chick Corea and the exciting young talent Maxim Lando, we hope to delight the audience and take a little pressure off my left arm while it continues to heal,” Lang Lang said.

The unusual three-person, five-hand arrangement was accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Yannick Nezet-Seguin, the French Canadian conductor who in 2020 will become the music director of the Metropolitan Opera.

Rhapsody in Blue, which premiered in 1924, is one of the most popular 20th-century US compositions and infuses jazz into Western classical music.

Gershwin, who composed for concert halls, theaters and early movies, wrote Rhapsody in Blue in versions both for one and two pianos.