Yuja Wang: Fantasia
This recording contains musical miniatures that are short, yet are huge in impact. These encore pieces by Scriabin, Gluck, Rachmaninov, Chopin and others will thrill Yuja Wang’s fans.
The variety of styles of these pieces – which includes neo-Classical, Impressionist, Romantic, and jazz – provide a unique listening experience.
The selections are as follows:
Albéniz:
- Triana (from Iberia, book 2)
Chopin:
- Waltz No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2
Dukas:
- The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
arranged by Victor Staub
Gluck:
- Orfeo ed Euridice: Mélodie
arranged by Sgambati
Horowitz:
- Variations On A Theme From Bizet’s Carmen
Rachmaninov:
- Étude-Tableau, Op. 39 No. 6 in A minor
- Étude-Tableau, Op. 39 No. 4 in B minor
- Elegie, Op. 3 No. 1
- Étude-Tableau, Op. 39 No. 5 in E flat minor
Saint-Saëns:
- Danse macabre, Op. 40
arranged by Franz Liszt & Vladimir Horowitz
Scarlatti, D:
- Keyboard Sonata K455 in G major
Schubert:
- Gretchen am Spinnrade, D118
arranged by Franz Liszt
Scriabin:
- Prelude, Op. 11 No. 11 in B major
- Prelude, Op. 13 No. 6 in B minor
- Prelude, Op. 11 No. 12 in G sharp minor
- Étude Op. 8 No. 9 in G sharp minor
- Poème in F sharp major, Op. 32 No. 1
Strauss, J, II:
- Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, Op. 214
arranged by György Cziffra
Performed by Yuja Wang (piano)
I like almost all of these pieces a lot. For me, the one exception is the Schubert “Gretchen am Spinnrade”. In that piece the accompaniment represents the movement of the spinning wheel. This music needs to stay in the quiet background so as to not obscure the lovely melody. Also, these figurations need to be as even as the spinning wheel that they represent. Both of these requirements were not fully met in Ms. Wang’s playing.
Here are some Press comments:
Sunday Times, 1st April 2012:
“A disc of encores needs a compelling executant to justify itself, but this young pianist’s technique is quietly transcendent, her musicianship zestful and profound. The sequence itself is satisfying.”
The Times, 23rd March 2012
“Time and again Wang shows us why she’s become the world’s darling, whether shading dynamics poetically in a morsel of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, clarifying the multiple layers in Albéniz’s Triana, or romping with the preposterous glitter of Horowitz’s Carmen Variations.”
Here is Yuja Wang in a behind the scenes clip showing the shooting for this CD
And here is a very interesting interview with Yuja Wang, speaking with a representative of the Israel Philharmonic. (She was visiting Israel for two weeks)
Tags: Yuja Wang, pianist, Fantasia, Chopin Scriabin Strauss, Schubert, Gluck, Albeniz