Hublot ambassadors include Olympians like Usain Bolt, NBA basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and model Bar Refaeli. A new member of this admired group, joining this past January, is pianist Lang Lang, a young talent who doesn’t conform to the stereotype of a concert musician. He has widened the audience of classic music with his rock-star status, performing with the likes of Metallica and Pharrell in concert halls around the globe.
This summer the Chinese-born pianist added an intimate Hublot-sponsored concert series to his eighty-show global tour, performing for the watch company’s friends in Porto Cervo, Italy and Saint- Tropez, France. As a guest of Hublot, I had the incredible opportunity to hear Lang Lang play in Saint-Tropez. His fingers magically plied the keys of the Steinway, playing pieces by Mozart and Tchaikovsky with emotion and precision while he mesmerized the audience with his boundless energy and talent.
This young music star, who just celebrated his 33rd birthday, ended the concert with the third of Franz Liszt’s six “Grandes etudes de Paganini,” known as La Campanella. The song was chosen, according to Hublot, because the skills required to play it well demand extreme precision and concentration, echoing the skills required to make a fine watch.
Global
Enhancing the partnership, Hublot will support Wild Aid, a foundation also supported by Lang Lang fighting to end illegal wildlife trade, including dealing in elephant ivory. Hublot will donate to the foundation a portion of proceeds from the Hublot boutique in Saint-Tropez through July and August of this year. In addition, Director of the LVMH Group Watch Division Jean-Claude Biver made a personal donation of 10,000 euros to Wild Aid in support of Lang Lang.
The Saint-Tropez experience provided a unique occasion to sit down with Jean-Claude Biver and Lang Lang at the famed beach club, Le Club 55. While admiring Lang Lang’s wrist, decked out with a Hublot Big Bang All Carbon Bezel Baguette, I inquired about the partnership, music and of course watches.
Interview with Lang Lang (LL), Chinese concert pianist & Jean-Claude Biver (JCB), Director of the LVMH Group Watch Division:
What does it mean to you to be an ambassador for a brand like Hublot?
LL: I must say I am working with a lot of brands and I feel proud to be a Hublot ambassador. The way they do things is they lead artists. When I went to their factory, you are in the middle of a workshop creating art pieces and every model has its own story behind it.
I think this is because of this wonderful man (pointing to Jean-Claude Biver). He is someone that from the first conversation I had inspired me with every word. In addition, he fantasizes everything and everything becomes a reality. When he talks you really believe it is going to become true and I found this point very special. He and his team are always new, always fresh, always creative and I am so honored to be part of this.
Why do you feel Lang Lang is an ideal fit for Hublot?
JCB: He is a creator. He does not repeat. He adds his dimension to the music and that is what we always try to do. He does it as an artist and we do it as watchmakers. His attitude and behavior is very connected to today’s world and he does not behave like a traditional pianist. He is somehow disruptive and disruptive means you are creative. Every creation is a disruption. Hublot is disruptive – that is our DNA.
The day we are not disruptive we are wrong and we are out of our religion. Both being disruptive, both being creators and both not repeating the past – I think it was obvious for us to communicate and join forces.
Also, he is young. We are targeting young people and we are not targeting the old generation. We are a luxury brand for the new generation. So again it was very evident that we come together. In addition, he is in a very prestigious art. Classical music is high quality, classical music is education and all of these are qualities that people need if they want be an entrepreneur. So we also felt for those reasons he could be our ambassador.
What matters the most is that today we are not partners but we are friends. The day you are friends you have created a path towards eternity because friendship is love and love is eternal. Today if you have only a partnership based on a contract, however good it may be, you get one dimension. It is a like a picture which you see in one dimension. But the day you add friendship you have that in three dimensions, you see the picture very differently, and that is what we have achieved.
How does playing the piano relate to watchmaking?
LL: Love of hard work and hours of detailed work to make it smooth and natural, practiced slow fast and medium tempo—this is the same to make a watch. In the end, it is the combination, which also makes it good like a football team. You can pass the ball all the time, but how do you make the goal? That is also something similar to watchmaking.
Hublot has a personal approach. It is about art, fusion, precision and is not standard. For a good piano recital, it is the same thing. I am always finding new ways to create a new piece with new artists to collaborate with artists such as Metallica, Psy or Pharrell, and I always to find a new artist friend to create a new piece.
What is your most memorable moment on stage?
LL: I would say probably last year at the United Nations. I did a few songs together with the World Youth Orchestra, which my foundation (The Lang Lang Foundation), with musicians selected from all over the world. We performed with Sting – that was unique!
Do you wear a watch when you play?
LL: No, not all the time as they tend to be heavy. We are now talking about creating something light.
We are working on creating a watch that will have different materials and something musical.
Are you an avid watch collector?
LL: I have a lot of watches actually, and so does my father. My favorite by far is Hublot.
How do you feel about being a role model?
LL: I’d really like to bring music and education to more people because I really hope people learn music in a more inspired way and a more connected way.
Wild Aid is a foundation fighting to stop the killing of elephants for ivory. Please expand on your collaboration with Wild Aid.
LL: I have been working together with Wild Aid for a few years, and they are concentrated in stopping the use of ivory. Somehow people are killing elephants for ivory and it is an extremely horrible situation around the world. Some people still believe that to buy ivory is a way to show off, and I think it is a horrible thing. A long time ago the piano was made with ivory keys, but I cannot play on ivory keys because it makes me feel so weird. In the world today we have found a replacement for those materials we did not have 100 years ago. We are launching an initiative together with Hublot and the portion of the profits in July and August from the San Tropez Hublot store will go to Wild Aid.
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