Lang Lang photoshoot - behind the scenes

How we created our Proms special issue cover

Every year we invite a leading artist to guest edit our issue dedicated to the BBC Proms – and this year we were delighted when Lang Lang, soloist at this year's Last Night, accepted the challenge. The pianist worked with the Gramophone team on planning the issue's features content – read his editorial article, in which he talks about some of the topics he wanted to explore – and also got to choose a musical hero to interview: he opted for cellist Yo-Yo Ma. You can read that interview, and all the rest of the Proms coverage including full listings, in the July issue of Gramophone, on sale now.

In the meantime, here are some behind-the-scene shots from our photoshoot with Lang Lang in Paris. The ambitious idea was for a cover where Lang Lang would be playing a piano that would be illustrated after the shoot – a tricky shot to get right, and which involved shooting Lang Lang from just the right position with a wide-angle lens. The pianist enthusiastically got into the spirit of the idea, as you can see below:

Click the first image to launch the gallery.