Yuja Wang turns Confucius ahead of China tour
NewsA philosophical statement from the travelling pianist, issued on the eve of her homeland tour.
Thus spake Yuja: ‘The music on my new recital program guides us on a spiritual path, mirroring one of many ways to enlightenment through life itself, where we begin and end in silence through the cosmic vibration. These works focus on love, illumination, improvisation and nostalgia. Through numerous struggles we find peace and strength. I am curious to see how these works resonate with you and what you associate with them.’
Every cultural experience has to be (marketed as) a “journey” now.
Is it possible to learn which pieces she has chosen that exhibit these characteristics?
Le baiser de l’Enfant-Jésus | Olivier Messiaen
L’esprit de joie | Olivier Messiaen
Piano Sonata No.7, Op. 64 | Aleksandr Scriabin
L’ isle Joyeuse, L. 106 | Claude Debussy
Ballad No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 | Frédéric Chopin
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 | Ludwig van Beethoven
What a program!! And the Chinese audiences need to be applauded for knowing and understanding these works.
All works of the ‘white patriarchy’ and celebrated by millions and millions of Chinese.
Excellent program, great variety but with many connections to be found.
The program lives up to the marketing. Bravo!
I hated Yuja’s performance when I first heard her, as a (poor) substitute for Martha Argerich in Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano concerto conducted by Dutoit in Boston. Her playing was crass and vulgar – even if the audience went wild because of the pyrotechnics of her performance (certainly not the substance of it). And I’ve since heard her multiple times, and not only have her subsequent performances really impressed me, but I can hear real growth in her as an artist as well. She seems to be challenging herself and not coasting, and she’s one of the current roster of excellent pianists whose performances I always look forward to hearing. The Chinese audiences have something to really look forward to.
This is Wang’s programme! I had hoped that Wang would spare Beethoven’s op 111 after she had trivialised the Hammerklavier Sonata almost beyond recognition and devalued it by misusing the work for her half-naked show: transparent dress with slit from ankle to hip. The images remain, the musical performance does not.
An example of when each word itself has a meaning, but together they have none.
Maybe it means more in the original Chinese language.
What do you mean? It makes perfect sense. I think it’s another example of lack of reading comprehension/education on your part, perhaps?
That’s not Confucian, that’s Tao, which is directly opposed to Confucianism with it’s insistance upon obedience and memorization.
Sounds more like Buddhism than Confucianism.
Sounds even more like Confusism with all these comments.
Confucianism would have a woman hiding herself at home and not performing in public. How do you pedal a piano with bound feet?
I guess we’re bound to hear the answer from you.
Confucius lived well before foot binding started in China. Go back to brush up your knowledge of Chinese history, Wang!
Blitz: I didn’t say Confucius. I said Confucianism. Too quick to krieg Blitz.
lol DG obviously wrote that as liner notes for Yuja’s next album, and she’s just regurgitating it. I’ve heard Yuja do masterclasses and speak in interviews, she isn’t exactly the most erudite speaker/writer out there
That’s right. She really isn’t an intellectual. But according to Wang in an interview, it’s all about her legs, she likes to show them off, she said.
what a load of bull.
What a program, every work is full of spirituality, requiring as much from an audience as from the performer! I eagerly await hearing it on May 12 at Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA!
Yuja, please – stick to your day-job!
What an unspeakable promotional text that Miss Wang certainly didn’t write herself. On the other hand, the photo – Wang in a pink dress at the piano – shows the form of communication that the Chinese woman has long mastered: thighs free of fabric, naked is sexy and sex is business. No trace of enlightenment in Wang.