How to do a power bow like Yuja
Daily Comfort ZoneNo editorial comment could possibly match this inspired takeoff.
Here’s a sampling of the original act.
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I had the privilege of hearing the great pianist live in Rachmaninov’s 1st and 2nd concertos as well as the Paganini Rhapsody, all in one unforgettable night in Philadelphia 16 months ago. I sat at the top balcony. Acoustically a very good seat for the hall. I couldn’t have a good view of her dresses or her bow. With music making being that good, I couldn’t care less about what I I couldn’t see.
Yuja is great, but you do know there *are* other soloists you could write about, right?
To each his of her own style of taking a bow. What worries me, however, is that an entire generation of youtube / tiktok trained young musicians will be taking a cue from Wang’s bowing and consequently break their backs.
Delighted, on-their-feet sold-out house in Los Angeles got a dozen or so in two different outfits a week ago counting entrance, intermission, end of program, six encores, and final Adieu.
Follow the crowd follow the idiots.
I am nauseous and sick of the Yuja virus
Where on earth did she pick that up? It’s new — I have seen her in concert several times (back when she was fully dressed0 and we never saw this sort of ting.
Thank goodness she was never presented to the late Queen.
Maybe the late Queen should have been presented to Yuja – someone who has actually had to work to earn her millions?
The British royal family lives in a glass house…hardly paragons of fashion or virtue…or anything of value to most people.
That said, Yuja has and Elizabeth II had exemplary work ethics.
The late Queen was probably more open-minded than you are.
Yuja DID meet the late Queen though: https://images.app.goo.gl/NJnh35MSjyNZZEDR7
A Ukrainian friend of mine attended a recent recital, in which Wang played Messiaen and Chopin. She described her as a pianistic powerhouse. And when it was over, it was OVER. No lasting impact, no meaning, no cultural contribution. Just athletics at the piano. I’m shocked that Gary Graffman’s students do not have more artistry. But then, my teacher described Graffman as a very good businessman.
Gary Graffman taught both Yuja and Lang Lang. He did not allow them to enter competitions. I wonder why.
I was there at Yuja’s Messian/Chopin recital also, stayed for 2 encores and couldn’t take it anymore.. Her Chopin was just too weird for me, rubato and accents in all the weird places (not as bad as Lang Lang but still…)
We can keep wondering why Graffman advised Yuja Wang and Lang Lang against competitions, and rightly so, since we don’t know the context. At this pointm Wang and Lang probably have little reason to question the advice.
The list of legendary pianists who never won a competition is mighty impressive. Evgeni Kissin is arguably the most famous one on stage today. Past names include Julius Katchen, Byron Janis, Alicia de Larrocha, György Cziffra, Vladimir Horowitz…
Graffman did a YouTube interview where he explained why he doesn’t like competitions.
a) Gets students stuck playing the same repertoire rather than learning new pieces.
b) Graffman has enough contacts in the business to ensure that his talented students get heard in the right places.
https://youtu.be/vWf4rNcxfkI?si=VkYfbNM7OXM1qOS-&t=221
We’ve heard this rhetoric from women with Russian/Ukrainian ancestry many times before. The most virulent Yuja hater I’ve encountered was a female musicologist (working in the US) with a Russian mother. What is that all about? Someone please explain.
A belief that they own the instrument, repertoire, and history?
Bobby Fischer called the Russians out on strangling chess when he was charging to the world championship. He went off the rails afterward but on that point, he was dead on.
In recent times, Finns are strangling conducting.
Russians (and Armenians as well) think all other players are facile. Period.
What pseudointellectual tosh. As the late great Neville Cardus wrote: “The last thing we learn in the arts is that a pure aesthetic pleasure is the rare and right one – especially in music. It is easier in music to lean on philosophy than it is to make music.”
Very sad to see that today only athletic skills and vulgarity get people’s enthusiasm. Obviously this woman understood it and took the occasion
Her bow is a quick full-body heave with no grace, poise, or class. Likewise, her over-the-top outfits and machine-like playing all detract from any music-making that might take place. I saw this kind of piano performance emerging forty years ago while studying at a major conservatory. There are still pianists performing on today’s stages with musicality, but they are overshadowed by these over-the-top performers who opt for “show” over substance. Part of the blame for the rise in this phenomenon has to be put at the feet of instructors who have allowed and promoted dazzle over musicianship. The performer should never distact the audience from the music they are presenting. It’s a simple rule.
A very funny parody of Yuja’s goofy, floppy ragdoll bow! I have always found it particularly strange and wonder how she came up with it.
I cannot help but surmise, given her lack of artistry, her meteoric rise to fame might be funded in large part by the CCP, and that Klaus Makela discovered her double life and broke up with her for his own safety.