Sicklist: Yuja’s out

Sicklist: Yuja’s out

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norman lebrecht

May 08, 2019

Yuja Wang, who never cancels, was a no-show at the Iggudesmann-Joo show at Vienna’s Konerthaus earlier this week.

She’s also out for Birmingham tomorrow.

Denis Kozhukhin is her replacement.

In long trousers.

Comments

  • Caravaggio says:

    They allow that pitiful circus at the fabled Musikverein? It is frankly shocking, the debased state the classical music biz finds itself in.

    • Thomasina says:

      Just to say that the concert took place at Konzerthaus, not at Musikverein. They also performed with Joshua Bell a few years ago at Konzerthaus.

    • Jon Eiche says:

      ‘Twas ever thus. Paganini and Liszt “sold the sizzle rather than the steak” two centuries ago. Virgil Fox looms large in my own memory. Other examples abound.

      • Jack says:

        I really hope you’ve heard her in recital. I have. She’s no less than phenomenal. I wish her a quick recovery. (BTW, Paganini, Liszt, AND Fox are all in Groves. I don’t see you there.)

        • Furzwängler says:

          Well said (especially your comment re. Groves).

        • Jon Eiche says:

          My apologies for not making my point clearly. I merely meant to say that classical music has been accompanied by a certain amount of “show biz” for a long time. The “debased state” Caravaggio lamented presumes an earlier era when the art was purer, and I think that Golden Age is an illusion. (By the way, I love Virgil Fox. I have heard Yuja Wang only in recordings, alas. She certainly sounds phenomenal to me. No doubt she’ll appear in a future edition of Groves. I never shall.)

    • Simon says:

      Get over yourself.

  • NYMike says:

    Strange, since she appeared with MTT last Wednesday and Thursday @ Carnegie Hall. I wonder what happened since.

  • Jones Ricky says:

    I do hope that you will feel better soon Yuja. We will miss you in Birmingham and do hope you will be able to visit us in the not too distant future. Best regards, Ricky Jones

  • Mustafa Kandan says:

    Even if she was to play in the nude, the attention would soon turn to her sensational playing. In spite of my admiration for her, ultimately I prefer pianists like Lupu, Perahia and Uchida. I also wish that I was not stuck in Australia when Alfred Brendel was still playing.

    • Robin Smith says:

      Don’t Lupu, Perahia and Uchida mainly cover the core German rep (as Brendel mainly did) whilst Wang covers more exotic and more modern material (her Ligeti was outstanding at the Barbican I recall).

  • daveferre says:

    She cancelled in Verbier 2012… just for the record.

  • Anthony Mason says:

    Yuja is about to go on tour playing the Prokofiev Piano Concerto no 5 with the CBSO: hope she recovers for that. Denis played the piece superbly in Birmingham tonight. With two encores.

  • Greg Bottini says:

    Get well soon, Yuja. You are wonderful…. don’t listen to the haters.

  • Jerry says:

    Yuja performed flawlessly on May 28th at Philharmonie in Munich, but you could tell that she was not feeling well. She even coughed during the Schumann concerto.

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