The real reason people hate Lang Lang, Beethoven and… pineapples on pizza.

I do realize that the title sounds like the start of a dad or at least a bad joke but it is not. Although you can’t tell people that their disliking of a Hawaiian pizza is wrong (even if they are wrong because it’s delicious but I’m getting too political here) because they simply couldn’t like the taste, it is still very much true that the reason most people dislike pineapple pizza is because people tell them not to like it. If you like it, you’re weird. Fans of Lang Lang might face the same problem in musical circles. People of a certain in-group, may it be your friend group, your concert go buddies, or people at the conservatory/university, have a tendency to hate things that are popular.

There is no doubt that the most people know Beethoven’s fifth, even if they might not know that it is Beethoven’s fifth, they at least recognize the DA DA DA DAM. Just like this Lang Lang is very well known, even outside of the classical music community, and generally very much liked there. However it is when you go inside into the classical community, you start to notice a shift in moods; your grandiose masterpiece, your beloved Lang Lang, becomes „mainstream“ and therefore bad.

Lang Lang is not the best pianist in the world. Not that there would be such a thing…

Of course, the first argument that people will throw at you when you point this out is that Lang Lang isn’t the best pianist, even though people say he is. That is true to some extent. People certainly often do say he is at least one of the best, and it may be annoying to the in-group people, since they know that there are many, many, many more pianists to take into consideration, that people, who aren’t that into classical music, simply don’t know. I don’t see Lang Lang as the best pianist either, since such a big statement would be sort of outrageous. First of all, you can’t really say one pianist is the best. Secondly, “the best” wouldn’t be an objective statement, since it depends on your preferred music, and your preference in interpretation, which is different for everybody. So how do we get from “not the best pianist” to telling people it’s bad to listen to them?

You may be able to argue that it’s an attempt at individualism, an attempt to be different. However, that’s not really the case here. It more so is a case of “I will destroy yours, before you destroy mine” mentality. It’s in our human nature to have a need to feel included, but people feel like they need to like the same things to be liked. And if you like something else, you aren’t liked or that’s at least how they might feel. That’s the reason people try to delegitimize the opposite opinion of theirs.

The easiest way to make something look legitimate is still to make something else look illegitimate

Now you might argue, shouldn’t popular things still be viewed as good, since there are more people liking it, so statistically they should convince more people that it’s good, other than the „rogues“. There is however a vital flaw in that line of thinking, as I said, people want to be liked, and you already are liked when you are a fan of something popular, since there are many people with the same view as you. People who like the amazing composer Philipp Steurer do not have the same privilege. They see themselves as outsiders under attack, when they are being confronted with who their favorite composer is, and the answer is neither Beethoven nor Bach or Mozart. Then there is a need to legitimize the unknown, even if it’s probably not necessary, and the easiest way to make something seem like it’s legitimate is to make something else look illegitimate.

To conclude: The reason why people attempt to delegitimize Beethoven, Lang Lang and other popular things is because of insecurity and a need to feel accepted. Whether it’s pineapples on pizza, your favorite song, or simply a great pianist like Lang Lang; you should not feel bad for liking either. It is your choice what to like, and what not to. I myself prefer many pianists over Lang Lang (like Danniil Trifonov, Seong-Jin Cho or Alice Sara Ott), it would be wrong however, to state that he is not a good pianist, because he is that without a doubt. If you listen to his beautiful interpretation of the c-sharp minor nocturne by Chopin, or to him playing Liszt’s virtuosic piano version of Paganini’s La Campanella you will agree that Lang Lang (even if not your favourite) surely is very talented, both technically and in his interpretational work. We have the mentality “I will destroy yours, before you destroy mine” nowadays. Let’s change that to “Yeah, yours is nice, but you should also check out mine!”. We will not only have a much less toxic environment, where people can have pineapple on pizza, while they enjoy listening to Lang Lang’s newest album, but we will also have a much healthier acceptance of people’s preferences.