Cultural Life: Lang Lang, pianist

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Music: Arthur Rubinstein's 'Music of Spain'. I always learn music from Rubinstein's interpretation and have many of his records on my MP3 player, so that I can listen whenever and wherever I am.

Film: 'Let the Bullets Fly', the new film directed by Wen Jiang. I watched it during my tour of China. It tells the story of a Robin Hood-like character, who kidnaps a con man, who is about to take up the mayorship, which he secured through bribes. It's a must see.

Television: I admit I watch 'Family Guy' and 'Gossip Girl'. I really don't have that much time for watching TV, just a little late at night, after a whole day's work, just for fun and it helps me to unwind.

Opera: I recently saw the Wagner opera 'Rheingold' at the Berlin Opera. Wagner's music has been used a lot in movies. I love the effect that music has on films. I also recently saw 'La Traviata' at The Metropolitan Opera in New York, starring Marina Poplavskaya.

Visual Arts: I visited the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin recently when I was there on tour. They have a wonderful collection of over 4,500 works of art in the permanent collection. I find that Modern Art museums can sometimes provide you with some inspiration for contemporary music. From exhibitions I can always find some kind of connection with music.

Books: Shakespeare's 'Antony and Cleopatra'. I have a dream of reading all Shakespeare's works and I'm slowly working my way through them. I've already read 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Twelfth Night' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', but I have a bit of a way to go.

Lang Lang stars in 'The Flying Machine: the World of Chopin's Études' and performs the soundrack at the Royal Festival Hall, London SE1 (0844 875 0073) 12 & 13 February