The Grammys will play host to a new invention of orchestral thrash this year, as the deft concert pianist Lang Lang will team up with metal pioneers Metallica. This wouldn't be the first time, though, one hears an orchestral hybrid--"Carol of the Bells" being an earlier fixture recorded by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
In an interview about the implications of their performance, Metallica's guitartist Kirk Hammet said, "I listened to the demo that Lang Lang's people sent us, and the arrangement of the song is changed, but none of the heavy parts are taken out, and I love that."
"Because classical musicians a lot of times are a bit intimidated by these heavy metal guys. They all think we're just loud cavemen," continued Hammett.
One will have to wait patiently for the sure-to-be-memorialized performance January 26.
Not long after Lang Lang's thrash debut, Sony Classical will release a three-track digital EP entitled Happy Chinese New Year on--you guessed it--the official Chinese New Year, January 31.
The digi-disc will contain a transcription of the song "The Spring Festival Prelude."
Lang Lang says, "With this EP I want to wish all my friends around the world a very special Happy Chinese New Year. Everyone in China knows the 'Chinese Spring Festival Overture' and the Chinese New Year Celebration simply wouldn't be the same without it."
Don't miss Lang Lang and Metallica at this weekend's Grammys and keep in the loop here at Classicalite about his forthcoming disc.
