German pianist strikes a chord in her first single

Gina Alice Redlinger released the first single of her upcoming debut album, Wonderworld, published by Deutsche Grammophon, on Sept 10.

The 27-year-old German pianist and reality TV star played a duet of Hungarian Dance No 5 by Johannes Brahms with her husband, pianist Lang Lang, at the Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai at a news conference to introduce the album, which is scheduled for release this month.

The first music video features a performance of Robert Schumann's Traumerei, one of the 40 music pieces that Redlinger chose for her first album, which covers a wide range of compositions from classical pieces to modern works.

Traumerei is a piece she enjoyed playing at a very young age.

"As you mature, you play it with new depth. Yet I still want to retain the innocence and curiosity that a child has," she says.

The album also consists of Brahms' Lullaby, a gift for her son who was born in January, and Franz Liszt's arrangement of Schumann's Widmung, a tribute to love.

As the wife of a Chinese musician, Redlinger says she has developed a love for Chinese culture. For the album, she chose several Chinese compositions, including Dance of Waterweeds, created by Wu Zuqiang and Du Mingxin in 1959, and Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon, adapted from Chinese folk music by Wang Jianzhong. She says she hopes to play more Chinese compositions in the future.

"Music can express all kinds of emotions," she says.

"Many overseas audiences are also interested in Chinese music."

Wonderworld is the first album recorded in China with Dolby Atmos, and Lang, an internationally recognized pianist, has had rich experience recording with the new technology. He oversaw the process of Redlinger's recording and helped her with background stories of the Chinese music pieces for the album.

"I helped to monitor the recording process and gave my advice," Lang said at the news conference. "But the music interpretation is all her own. I hope we can present this aspect of her career as a mature professional pianist. After all, the strong capabilities ensure that one has an enduring career in art."

Redlinger was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1994 and began taking piano lessons at the age of 4. She gave her first public performance at age 8, and went on to win accolades, including first prizes at Jugend Musiziert and the Wiesbaden International Piano Competition when she was just 10.

At 17, she performed with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at the Philharmonie Berlin. Later she studied with the renowned pianist and educator Gary Graffman, and at Hamburg Hochschule fur Musik und Theater.

Redlinger met Lang in Berlin a few years ago and they got married in June 2019 in France.

Over the past few years, she has performed with Chinese orchestras and participated in reality TV shows in China, which made her a celebrity. Redlinger has also worked as a singer and songwriter.

"I am grateful to share my love for classical music with the new album," she says.