Just in: Yuja’s back
mainMessage, after a long silence, from our favourite skimpy pianist:
I can’t wait to be back on stage this weekend with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by my friend Eric Jacobsen! Looking forward to playing some Strauss with wonderful colleagues and friends.
“‘She is simply without par in the piano world today, and I can’t wait to work with her to bring Strauss’s witty, zany and virtuosic ‘Burleske’ to Orlando Philharmonic audiences,’ wrote Philharmonic music director Eric Jacobsen, describing Wang’s visit as ‘a dream come true.'”
Enough on the ‘skimpy’ comments already, her artistry will speak for itself. It’s great to have Yuja back behind a keyboard at last!
Seriously, Norman’s obsession with Yuja is so creepy.
She’s grown tremendously as an artist, which I give her tremendous credit for, and in her repertoire she’s well worth hearing. I heard her initial BSO performance with Charles Dutoit of Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto in place of the cancelled Martha Argerich, and I really didn’t like it. Of course, notwithstanding the thunderous response from the audience (who were watching theatrics more than they were listening to music-making, in my opinion). But she’s become more soulful in her playing and I appreciate that she seems to continue to push herself and not rest on laurels. I’m enjoying her artistic journey and look forward to her finally tackling the core Germanic repertory (Beethoven, Brahms, etc.) rather than the usual Russian and French suspects.
May a good musical god prevent Ms. Wang from playing compositions of Beethoven and Schubert. It has failed Beethoven’s op 106 and op 111 and Schubert’s posthumous Sonata in A major. Others can do better and that is a good thing.
and Mozart.
Yuja should stick to the late Romantics and 20th Century.
“YUJA’S BACK”
Looks more like Yuja’s front.
Yes I agree, From where I am sitting it looks more like her front.
“‘She is simply without par in the piano world today”
Hmmm, does Evgeny Kissin not count?
And Lang Lang?
And Emanuel Ax!
Re the Burleske.
Of course Kissin doesn’t count – he looks terrible in Yuja’s outfits!
Or “the Triff”? Perhaps he should appear on stage in a singlet with buffed pecks!!!??
I like The Triff. The four times I’ve heard him he’s been great.
I’d count the Orlando Philharmonic musicians and audience members lucky.
Indeed: Strauss’ Burleske deserves to be played much more often! It would be great to pair it with another single-movement concerted piece — the Faure Ballade, perhaps?
Lucky Floridians. Any idea how many people can attend? All I see on the website is “The number of patrons is reduced for all venues to allow for social distancing in seating areas and venues.” I also see that it’s at Exploria Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium. I’m sure the acoustics are superb. lol.
Karl : Yuja was booked during my time as interim CEO of the Orlando Philharmonic. She was to be on the opening season of a new concert hall in Orlando. Along comes COVID and its impact .
The OPO has already played concerts in the soccer stadium and I am told, the sound is certainly not ” Carnegie Hall ” but is decent and the old Bob Carr Hall in Orlando has , at best, mediocre acoustics. Just happy to see that, in some parts of the USA, people can attend live concerts safely . We can’t do that this time of the year in Minnesota because of the weather, obviously . Crowd’s for the OPO outdoor concerts, to date, have been about 1700- 2000 people.
Up to 2,000 people will be able to attend; given the need for social distancing. Sound will be amplified, yes, as it was for an earlier Orlando Philharmonic concert in the same venue in September.
Exploria Stadium is a sports venue. Pretty big. Here are pictures: https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrJ7Fs.CflfBdMApDNXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzIEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj?p=exploria+stadium&fr=yfp-t
Some of us are rather more interested in her piano playing. She might have chosen a better piece than Strauss’ rather tuneless trivia
The Strauss Burleske is tuneless? Where do you think Bernstein poached the theme for his West Side Story hit-song “Somewhere”?
The Strauss is a wonderful piece, curiously neglected [as are so many of the one-movement Konzertstücke] by many conductors and pianists but championed by a select few, including in recent memory R. Serkin and Arrau, currently Argerich and Barenboim, Sara Davis Buechner…When was the last time our readers heard a live performance of the Fauré Ballade, Franck Symphonic Variations or Nights in the Gardens of Spain, or either Schumann Introduction and Allegro [Opp 92 or 134]?
Or the von Weber Konzertstücke, or the Cecile Chaminade Konzertstücke (quite a lovely piece, particularly if you need a piano concerto written by a woman – it’s much better than the concerti by Clara Schumann or Amy beach).
I was at a wonderful performance of Faure’s Ballade with Hewitt and Mandeal conducting the Halle in 2003 – a most superb concert – https://angelahewitt.com/press/reviews/with-the-halle-orchestra-in-faures-ballade/
There’s also a fine performance of Strauss’ Burlesque with the Romanian Youth Orch under Mandeal with Oxana Corjos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfLkPX342TI
Thanks for appreciation! Oxana
Better to watch the Yeol Eum Son Youtube channel
I’m not disputing her world-class talent, but I find her blatant, in your face (or wherever) promotion of her sexual allure distracting, her dress and nonstop facial gestures both. There are lines here—agreed, you shouldn’t hate someone just because they’re beautiful—perhaps sexy is the better term, ancient as it is—but YW has crossed them years ago. It’s tiresome and interferes with my attending to her performances. In my younger days, I’m sure I would be smitten like most people. But at 81, things change. There are a lot of very attractive female musicians, e,g., Janine Janson and Alice Sara Ott, but YW sticks out in a bad way as far as I’m concerned.
It is good to read your text. Ms. Wang may be a great talent, but she has chosen her (successful) marketing strategy that repels me: “flying fingers” combined with lots of bare skin. When I buy a ticket for a concert, I want to listen to music and not have to study the soloist’s back muscles or look at her bare thighs and buttocks – unasked. Ms. Wang turns a concert hall into a bar, optionally with table dancing. But men, young and older, love Wang because of that.
At 86 I have a different viewpoint. She is, just, a young woman and she says she dresses as a young woman. Good for her. She is only “sexy” in your mind. As for your “blatant promotion of her sexual allure” I suspect that is all done by the company that is marketing her cds. I do often wonder what is in her mind when she uses all those facial expressions while she is playing. I was booked to hear her play in Philadelphia last year, but that was canceled by Covid. I would gladly go to hear her play anywhere even if she wore a neck-to-toes black dress. As for Arthur’s “very attractive female musicians” to me all females are attractive, as they are also musicians. My first Yuja Wang concert was many years ago in Ottawa when she filled in for a sick Radu Lupu in October 2006. Wish I could go to Orlando.
And it’s all so unnecessary – people would go to hear Yuja Wang if she was wearing a potato sack.
A potato sack? Of course! There must be a next step.
Ever thought of closing your eyes at a concert? I find it helps me hear more deeply, no matter who is playing.
When ever I see the work Burleske by Strauss I am reminded of the story of Previn and Szell that I have heard from various sources close to the mix so it must be true.
Previn was hired by the CO management to perform the work with Szell conducting but Szell wanted Previn to play for him before he approved of the engagement.
Previn made to trip to Cleveland from LA. At Severance Hall he went into the dressing room of Szell and was surprised to find no piano in the room.
When Previn asked for a piano, Szell told him to play the work showing his fingerings on a table in the room. At the end of the “audition”, Szell made several unfavorable comments to Previn which led Previn to say:
“I don’t know if I agree with you Maestro, it sounded better on my table at home”.
He didn’t get hired. But it’s a great story.
Wow! Yuja playing Strauss’ Burleske! Accordingly dressed?
🙂
Of course. I would like to see her in a dirndl, Richard Strauss came from Bavaria.
I remember an interview with her where she said when Berlin Philharmonic asked her to play Strauss Burleske for her debut with the orchestra, she refused because she disliked this piece. So she changed her mind!
Also let’s not start a flame war about who is “without par in the piano world”. That’s silly marketing talk.
Quite frankly, I find it astonishing that SP is repeatedly engaged in illegitimate sexist posts on YJ. One may or may not like her artistry (in fact she is both a huge artist and a real star) but these posts and comments by white old males literally dripping over a great artist who also happens to be an attractive girl who rightly does not care about their chauvinistic attitudes – is disgraceful. There must be more respectable ways to attract traffic.
COVID-19 is racing through the Florida population, in part due to the willful incompetence of the governor and other state officials.
Stay safe and healthy, Yuja. Be careful.
Yuja is truly without par, wang in a million.
Ms. Wang, at the age of 24, gave up clothes and preferred sheet music, – I suspect from the score for the Hammerklavier sonata: https://www.gettyimages.de/detail/nachrichtenfoto/yuja-wang-nachrichtenfoto/541093148
Ms. Wang, some say she is number one in the piano world, is known beyond classical music, even in the world of porn:https://de.xhamster.desi/photos/gallery/yuja-wang-sexy-classical-pianist-4385231
https://mobileporn.cam/yuja-wang-walks-sexy-on-the-rythm-of-the-claps-asian-celebrity-high-heels-2231052.html) – That’s a big success!
Karin-
How’d you find this stuff? You’re Norman’s roomie, right? No fair going through his laptop….
Yuja is no “skimpy pianist”. Sheesh!
She is one of the finest pianists of the 21st century.
If you are reading this, Yuja, please don’t let Norman’s juvenile comments bother you. He’s just got a big crush on you, that’s all.
Norman, your Yuja obsession is legitimately disturbing and disgusting. Chill out.
It’s nice that YW has fans like you. This is probably real love and love for music.
Orlando Bloom hired a whole orchestra just to get a skimpier soloiust than when he knocked some of Justin Beliber’s teath out f’one?
Is there any reason why Nijinsky’s gibberish is allowed here? It means nothing, it brings nothing and, frankly, it is quite obvious that he/she needs either English lessons or stronger medication.
Should be drooling over not dripping….
And put more simply sexist chauvinstic posts should not be part of any news blog let alone a classical music blog. This is pathetic and ridiculous.
Then photos, such as the photo of YW from a concert in Georgia, should not be included in the blog, because it shows the pure sexiness of the soloist. Please don’t forget: Ms. Wang is all about attracting attention with her clothes, about her performance, and she achieves that through polarization. So there are also critical comments here.
Her artistry is very far from skimpy!!!!
What orlandish outfit will she be wearing?
Frumpy old Myra Hess wouldn’t stand a chance today, alas.
Miss Wang celebrates her birthday on February 10. She is now 34 years old. Surely many fans will want to congratulate her. I congratulate her with a photo that is ten years old.
https://www.gettyimages.de/detail/nachrichtenfoto/yuja-wang-nachrichtenfoto/541093148
She’s honestly the most amazing female pianist ever as far as I’m concerned. Have to move her above the great Martha.
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