Move over, Clara: Yuja Wang’s coming after Schumann

Move over, Clara: Yuja Wang’s coming after Schumann

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norman lebrecht

December 03, 2018

From a new interview in Erica Worth’s Pianist magazine (not online):

That is one major concerto I have never played. I heard it so much when I was young. I haven’t touched it yet but I feel like it’s all back there already. But it’s another thing to actually play it. Sometimes you just fell lucky…. I’m learning like a Chinese chef.’

Wonder what she means by that?

Comments

  • Tommy says:

    Brahms PC 2

  • John Rook says:

    YW is fantastic, but if there’s one thing the world doesn’t need, it’s yet another version of the Schumann. Isn’t there some other masterpiece she hasn’t performed?

  • MacroV says:

    News flash: Big-name A-list pianist plans to start playing one of the most ubiquitous of concertos.

    Now, if she were to say she’d tackle the concertos of Lutoslawski, Furtwangler, or Hamilton Harty, you’d have a story. Or, indeed, the Martinu concertos.

  • Geoff Cox says:

    How about Clara Wieck’s (later Schumann) Piano Concerto in A minor Op.7? I believe Mariam Batsashvili will play it next year!

  • She has also performed Tchaikovsky’s 2nd concerto in G Major and the Ravel left-hand concerto.

    One really cannot accuse Yuja Wang of only performing warhorses. I think there is definitely room in the catalogue for her Schumann contribution!

  • YS says:

    The dress she wears has a cheap night club touch. I do not think, that is appropriate dor a classic pianist. Next time we might expect to see eve n more skin and more holes in the dresd? Disgusting

    • Novagerio says:

      Close the eyes and enjoy the music. And cut the double moral.

    • I can think of at least half a dozen classical musicians who are usually dressed quite modestly, yet whose interpretations show a “cheap night club touch”…

      I much prefer the opposite!

    • Mary says:

      Actually Yuja’s dress designer is Rosemarie Umetsu. [redacted] Yuja and her dress designer have been close friends for many years, during this time Umetsu was accused of frauds numerous times by the Courts. She has a long history of not paying her dress makers. Many of Yuja’s dresses may be made by unpaid workers. This is all from the CBC News article.

    • hsy says:

      Then please go watch one of those that dress the way you like and make you feel sophisticated and socially elevated (yes, watch; clearly this is the most important aspect to you). There are a lot of them on the market.

    • Brettermeier says:

      “The dress she wears has a cheap night club touch. I do not think, that is appropriate dor a classic pianist. Next time we might expect to see eve n more skin and more holes in the dresd? Disgusting”

      Thank god we don’t know how you are dressed. (I do hope that you ARE dressed. So many pervs out there.)

    • Jack says:

      So boring. Play better than Yuja and then you might have a claim to criticize her.

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    Incredible repertoire. The woman must practice endlessly!! And what gifts she has!!

    • Fan says:

      In an intermission interview in front of audience after a stupendous performance of Rach 3, she said that she had done with intense practice since her early 20s.

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