Yuja Wang, epitome of a child prodigy and virtuosa

Yuja Wang (Photo credit: Felix Broede for Deutsche Grammophon & yujawang.com)

“You cannot imagine how it spoils one to have been a child prodigy”
– Franz Liszt, virtuoso pianist and composer

When diminutive Chinese pianist Yuja Wang made her Carnegie Hall debut in October 2011, the classical music world has already acknowledged the arrival of the then 24-year old prodigious talent.

Hailed as a musician with “super-human artistry and control of the piano keyboard”, she has already captured the imagination of millions of music lovers, from classical music-loving baby boomers to Gen X & Y fans of contemporary pop music.

However, a stunning performance at the Hollywood Bowl last year was mixed with controversy surrounding her attire. Dressed in an impossibly short skirt, the Los Angeles Times’ Mark Swed wrote:

“Her dress Tuesday was so short and tight that had there been any less of it, the Bowl might have been forced to restrict admission to any music lover under 18 not accompanied by an adult. Had her heels been any higher, walking, to say nothing of her sensitive pedaling, would have been unfeasible. The infernal helicopters that brazenly buzz the Bowl seemed, on this night, like long-necked paparazzi wanting a good look.”

Personally, I felt his comments above were regrettable because it is Wang’s music that spoke louder that evening.

Her interpretation of Scriabin’s prelude in B major Opus 11 No. 11 in the video below is melodiously heart-wrenching.

I sense her urgency in communicating beautiful tonal colours with great passion and yet with such measured eloquence. No matter how many times I listen to her play this short two-page prelude which I regard among Scriabin’s finest, I am left wanting.

The technical demands of Scriabin’s works seem irrelevant as she effortlessly glides over leaping passages and arpeggios with her beautiful legato playing.

Selected preludes of Aleksander Scriabin for piano solo played by Yuja Wang

(Listening tip: use a good set of headphones if possible)

Wang’s playing is refreshing because there is youthful vigour and elegance. Yet her power and explosiveness comes to the fore when called upon. At the same time, I hear a renewed interest and style that is different from the great virtuoso of the 20th century like Horowitz and Rubinstein. Her rubato playing especially with Chopin’s music and the late romantics are not as distinctive as her male contemporaries but elegant enough to command attention and respect that says she is different.

But it is also Wang’s rendition of Georges Cziffra’s transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee where both hands play extremely difficult passages of interlocking octaves that shows off delicate control at such furious tempo that it almost defies super human capability.

It is not surprising her youtube video of this classic piece below has clocked over 2 millions views.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee (Cziffra transcription) played by Yuja Wang

(Listening tip: use a good set of headphones if possible)

Just like her countryman Lang Lang who was discovered by Christophe Eschenbach, Yuja Wang’s early career was guided under the masterful wings of Michael Tilson Thomas, a virtuoso pianist himself.

Musical director of the San Francisco Symphony, Thomas collaborated with Wang to produce a series of outstanding concerts that showcased and enhanced the soloist’s extensive repertoire from the piano concertos of Beethoven to the 20th century atonal discords of Sergei Prokofiev’s works.

Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise Op. 34 No. 14 played by Yuja Wang

(Listening tip: use a good set of headphones if possible)

The music by Yuja Wang, Lang Lang and so many other notable Chinese pianists are creating a torrential wave of interest among children in China. A reported 40 million children were inspired to take up piano playing since the Beijing Olympics.

It is also heartening to see the 2010 International Chopin Piano Competition has produced a female winner in Yulianna Avdeeva after a lapse of forty five years when the great Martha Argerich won in 1965.

Yuja Wang (Photo credit: Christian Steiner)

Wang has released her new album Fantasia 2012, a collection of some of the great works by Scarlatti, Albeniz, Bizet, Schubert and Rachmaninoff, including his epic and haunting Little Red Riding Hood etude (Etudes-Tableaux, Op.39; No.6 in A minor).

Yuja Wang (Photo credit: Felix Broede for Deutsche Grammophon & yujawang.com)

Regardless of the controversy of short skirts in concerts, Wang’s immense artistry and virtuosity speaks louder to me and she may yet inspire another generation of female artists to grace the great concert halls around the world.

Lets celebrate and be thankful that we have the beauty of her music for decades yet to come.

So dear readers, do you like classical music and if so do you have a favourite classical musician?

For more information about Yuja Wang, visit her website at www.yujawang.com