The young pianist Yuja Wang has already made quite a name for herself in a very limited period of time. Her debut recording on Deutsche Grammophon was a critical and popular success and even earned Yuja a Grammy® nomi... more »nation. On the heels of this impressive debut, Yuja returns with Transformation which categorically demonstrates that she is a young master of the Steinway. This all-new recital highlights Yuja's penchant for piecing together high concept programs the public adores with no shortage of technical brilliance. This exciting program includes some of the most electrifying and demanding works in the solo piano repertoire.« less
The young pianist Yuja Wang has already made quite a name for herself in a very limited period of time. Her debut recording on Deutsche Grammophon was a critical and popular success and even earned Yuja a Grammy® nomination. On the heels of this impressive debut, Yuja returns with Transformation which categorically demonstrates that she is a young master of the Steinway. This all-new recital highlights Yuja's penchant for piecing together high concept programs the public adores with no shortage of technical brilliance. This exciting program includes some of the most electrifying and demanding works in the solo piano repertoire.
CD Reviews
Wang delivers a brilliant second CD -- it's irresistible
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 04/13/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"DG recently lost its two superstar Chinese pianists, with Yundi (as he wants to be known) skipping to EMI and Lang Lang to Sony. they have the power to demand any terms they want, while DG must turn to a new crop of virtuosos. They've placed a good bet on Yuja Wang. Although marketed as sexy in this all-red cover photo, she has the technique to match her male rivals, a solid musical background form Curtis Institute, a famous teacher in Gary Graffman, and most important, real musical instincts. The only drawback is that she has been launched internationally before her musical gifts have matured, but since when is that new?
This, her second solo album, begins with a famous knuckle-cruncher, the Three Movement form Petrushka (1921), where we can compare her directly to Evgeny Kisisn and Maurizio Pollini. She bows to neither for technique, and her quick tempos are fearless. Pollini sounds ore aristocratic, Kisisn more grand, but Wang's light, sparkling rendition is more breathtaking because she really does make the technical hurdles seem effortless. This kind of control is jaw-dropping, for once giving meaning to that cliche. DG's sound is first-rate, and so is the piano she has chosen. By comparison, Pollini's piano sounds tinny and hard.
I wish the rest of the program didn't seem like an audition for a piano competition, consisting of two delicate Scarlatti sonatas, the humongous Paganini Variations of Brahms, and as a taste treat at the end, Ravel's La valse. It wasn't necessary to display so methodically that Wang can cover all bases. that said, the Scarlatti is done with charm and an easy touch' not for her the brittle brilliance of Horowitz. Let me confess that my interest in Brahms's big-deal piano works is only passing. I've only paid attention to Kissin's version of the Paganini Variations. Wang is no less bravura, but she's agreeably light and focused where Kissin is serious and grandstanding.
In fact, it's her fleeting touch that unites all the diverse pieces on this CD. by the time she arrives at La valse, the listener has caught on, and there's delight in appreciating such a mercurial artist. Wang is Argerich without fierceness. so far as I know, Argerich has only given us a two-piano arrangement of Ravel's insidious, off-kilter, and ultimately harrowing imitation of Vienna. Wang's account isn't satirical or even very French, but it's so graceful and lyrical that no one could resist. The same is true for the whole CD -- her future looks very bright."
A triumphant second release-
MusicLover | GOODYEAR, AZ, US | 04/26/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I first heard Yuja Wang on Symphony Cast on Feb. 1st- the host quoted a SF reviewer that said, basically, that to hear Yuja Wang play was to re-evaluate how well the piano could be played-
Yeah right, I thought- I have certainly heard that before. But it was absolutely true! Words are lacking to explain this, but despite all the great pianists I have heard, this was a special and unique experience. Her playing translates well in this recording; technical brilliance? No doubt. Expressiveness and musical sensitivity beyond her years? Well yes, very much so!
She has a unique ability to make musical sense out of complex pieces that would simply be noise in lesser hands.
A fabulous young artist!"
Presuming to know more than the composer is never good
Kelly Dean Hansen | 07/15/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Wang's butchery of the Brahms Paganini Variations is utterly unjustified. Whenever a performer presumes to know more than the composer, the consumer should be very wary indeed. Performers from Clara Schumann on have manufactured a nonexistent "problem" with these variations, and believe that it is necessary to cut one finale or the other. No, it's not. You perform the two books as two SEPARATE, SELF-CONTAINED WORKS!!!!! That solves all aesthetic problems. You don't even have to perform both of them on the same recital or even one right after the other. You just keep each book intact and don't try to splice them. What the hell is wrong with performing something the way the composer published it? Bad form, Yuja, and all the praise you have been getting for this performance is allowing you to get away with an unjustifiable artistic license. Somebody needs to call you out for thinking you know more than the composer. Olga Kern performs the two books separately. So do many others. There is no reason for you not to do the same."
Thoroughly satisfying!
Paul Langman | Hachimantai, Japan | 06/04/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yuja Wang is a remarkably gifted young Chinese pianist who combines awesome seemingly effortless technique
with artistic sensitivity of the highest order. The Scarlatti sonata which I have heard many many times was just a revelation while the Stravinsky and Brahms just dazzled me for someone so young. I greatly look forward to when
she tries her skills at Beethoven, Schumann, and Mozart. It is on my List of Intentions to see her live some time
in the future. I can't imagine what she will be like 10 years from now when she begins to mature. I intend to still be around to find out. The sound of the piano on the recording is beautifully natural. This is a CD to have if you love great piano playing."
Brilliant: trite but true
J. Chiu | Washington, DC | 07/13/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"One of the most thrilling discs by the younger generation -- an Argerich-like phosphorescence but more musical, less mannered. The La Valse at the end is like chilled water poured down the spine, and the opening Stravinsky is pellucid, rhythmically taut but layered on a flexible and acute metric foundation. Recommended with highest ratings.
Two caveats: using the Scarlatti to separate the larger works dilutes the crystalline voice of Scarlatti -- better to group them at the beginning, as in a traditional recital. Second, and more important, the choice of the Brahms is flawed, even deplorable in this scintillating -- these technically demanding but essentially unadventurous variations are long and tiring in their incessant 4/8 bar phrases. It's a bit of a hollow spot in the otherwise splendid disc.
It would have been far more coherent for Ms Wang to program one of Chopin's exceptional single movement works (Barcarolle, Polonaise-Fantasie, etc), or one of the visionary works of Liszt, or, in our own century, Bartok, Frank Martin, Prokofiev, Ligeti, etc.
With all that talent, even genius, to burn, why oh why program Brahms?"
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1