Lang Lang: A True Virtuoso

If you haven't already heard the name Lang Lang, you soon will.

This 22-year-old Chinese-born vituoso is one of the most celebrated pianists in the world.

People have nicknamed Lang Lang the "Tiger Woods of classical music" for his ability to reach wide audiences. His lastest CD, "No. 2," is currently topping the Billboard classical charts.

"I think musically," he tells The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith, "You need to really give your soul and your heart and your mind, everything."

His style of playing can be boisterous, hands flailing away during booming crescendos. Asked what is like for him when the audiences jump to their feet, full of enthusiasm, he says, 'It's a great thing and I love it and i'm really grateful for it."

But while the rest of the world may be enamored with him, Lang hardly notices it himself.

"I think that fame is important, of course. If you're not famous, then nobody comes to your concerts," says the soft-spoken, affable star. "But most important, you never forget that you are a musician, the thing you are going to do is communicate, sharing the best to the people, to make them feel better."

And though he may be showy, he has skills that some musicians three times his age have yet to master.

"He is a major talent. He sort of eats up music," says Gary Graffman, Lang's teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied for several years. "It becomes part of him, he has a fantastic ability of learning new works in an extremely short period of time, and making it his own."

"He's got all the prerequisites, and then he has something that you can't learn. When he walks out on stage, he has charisma," adds Graffman, who also is director of the Institute.

Born in Shen Yang to a mother who liked to sing and a father who was a master of the ehru, a Chinese string instrument, Lang's path almost seemed predestined. His piano training began when he was a toddler, and at age 5 he was performing in concerts. A few years later, he was chosen to attend a prestigious conservatory in Beijing.

Recalling the hardships he endured while studying in Beijing, Lang tells Smith, "The most important thing is always to remember where you came from and also how hard it was."

It was then that Lang's love for the piano started to wane.

"I missed my mother tremendously," he recalls. "The first half year in Beijing - I mean, I like the city, but the environment, I'm not used to it."

An outsider with a thick northern Chinese accent, Lang found it hard to make friends with his classmates. More troubling, however, was his difficult relationship with his new teacher.

"I just think, 'Why am I making music? Everything is wrong. I play this, she say wrong,"' he says.

"I'm not saying that I didn't like to play piano any more, but I feel disappointed. I say, 'Why is piano make me sad?' Piano has always make me happy, because when I was little I won prizes, and the people applaud for me when I was still a boy. So I always grew up with this happiness. But now, everything is wrong."

It wasn't until Lang changed teachers that his love was rekindled. At age 15, he came to the United States with his parents to further his training. Studying at Curtis in Philadelphia, he had opportunities to play with various orchestras and at recitals, and his reputation grew. But it was after a lucky break at the Ravinia Festival that his star was truly born.

When pianist Andre Watts fell ill and was unable to play with the Chicago Symphony, Lang - then 17 - was selected to take his place. Far from a timid understudy, he dazzled both the audience and critics. A year later, at 18, he made his Carnegie Hall debut. He's had success after success since then.

But Lang seems unfazed. He professes to never read his interviews, and sees himself as a conduit to get more people - especially young children - interested in classical music.

"One day I like to see when I walk in the streets, everyone knows Tchaikovsky, everyone knows Beethoven, everyone knows the great contemporary composers in classical music," he says.

However, he says he enjoys pop music, even if he doesn't quite know all the names of the performers.

"I sometime also listen to Britney Spears sometimes, or Michael Jackson sometimes, or, Em ... Em ... What is his name? E-M?" he says, struggling to come up with the name Eminem. "Pretty hot."

On The Early Show Lang performed Rachmaninov prelude in B-Flat from his new album, "Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2 and Paganini Rhapsody."