Yuja Wang: Debussy Arabesque No 1 in E major 

Some of these comments on here make me shake my head. I guess some people aren't satisfied unless they can find *something* to criticize. Yuja Wang was nine years old at the time of this video. I read criticisms like: she lacks emotional depth ... or ... she plays this more in the Classical style than the Impressionistic. Well, how many of you were playing at this level when you were 9? Obviously, Yuja has matured into an exceptional virtuosic adult concert pianist (with lots of emotional depth). She won the 2017 Musical America Musician of the Year award.

why do people keep questioning that she's a girl....... just because she has short hair doesn't make her a boy....this is an amazing performace and that's what matters

Wow. I am speechless. I have been studying music and the piano for years and I'm not even remotely CLOSE to this level. Not only on the performance itself, but even on the maturity you can hear emanating from her since the beginning - she speaks beautifully through the keys, and always has - and improving so fast and so high. She was born embodying music, like all the great virtuosos we know and talk about daily. I can not believe this is only about practice (even it is, of course, the most important part); but there is a wonderful gift that she has, and you can hear it ! For a nine-year old !! Remember that she has been studying for only 3 years at this point, I believe. That's remarkable. And now, whatching her recitals and concertos as this incredibly talented, funny, passionate and charming young lady has become something I keep comming back to. The almighty Beethoven sonata 29 was nailed by her after some years, and I was expecting it, as I knew she wouldn't rush to perform it before fully mastering the piece and the composer. That is maturity. That is virtuosity - as reserved for only a handful of great musicians. Now, her interpretation of the 'Hammerklavier' is probably my favorite - as a side note: along with the "visuals" and her personality being so charming, it's great what she does in showing that music isn't meant to be boring, but enjoyed ! By her and everyone else. I wish I could congratulate her in person, for she is truly one of a kind. Yuja, you are one the greats ! I'm thankful for having access to the web and sharing a moment in time with such geniuses and being able to watch and hear they play, for it really does fuel my life: as a musician and a human being in general. Thank you for inspiring us all !! Keep up the great work ! And make sure you come to Brazil in 2020 so I can watch you live and get inspired to study the instrument more hahah Much love from Brazil !!

Yuja Wang at nine years old, so cute with her short haircut and even at this age she played so wonderfully well. What an adorable kid she was and has now become a virtuoso pianist and also a beautiful and charming young lady.

Her skilled fingers just move the same way as they do today! The technique already totally natural and relaxed. This is called a huge talent :-)

She started when she was 6 years old, so she plays like this after 3 years of studying...I rest my case!

She can barely reach the pedals! Amazingly, such a young person can be so focused and driven to play at this level. Wang has continued to progress over the years and has reached the elite level as an adult. It is rare for kids to stick with something for that long and to persevere through the ups and downs. Many find other interests or simply burnout. We are fortunate to listen to her perform.

When I watch this, I can barely believe this is a 9-year playing!!! She grew up to be one of the very best in our world today. She is clearly a sparkling virtuoso from the start and what a pleasure to watch! Her play is so masterful and so highly expressive and downright soulful already at this age and that is usually reserved for very mature players after many years of study!! Thank you for posting this wonderful video as it is the first I have seen of the great Yuja Wang as a child! ~Jackie

Yuja Wang is one of the most talented people on the planet who just so happens to be beautiful. We humans should be glad that GOD created such a fine person as Ms. Wang; you go girl!!

Watching this video after watching all her later performances is like live through her life with her. Certainly the story has not ended yet. What a legend.

How can a 9-year-old have such a mature performance style?? Ok, she is Yuja...yes, obviously... yeah, I know... but.

Already then she was on her way to be on of the best pianists

I doubt very much this was posted as an illustration of the perfect rendition of the Arabesque. I suspect the motive was to show that Yuja at the tender age of 9 was developing a scary level of technical skills, showing the way to her stunning future. All you RU-vid wannabe critics... get off your high horses

Even at the age of 9 you can see that she is channeling some higher power in her rendering of this First Arabesque.

Astonishing for a 9 year old. Now I understand more how Josef Hoffman and Claudio Arrau who were child prodigies playing difficult music that early. I've been playing this piece for years and although Yuja plays it a little too fast for my taste she still plays it better than I do. She was born to play the piano and share her gift with all of us. BTW, she plays Fantasy Impromptu at this age beautifully which is even more difficult.

She is probably my favorite classical pianist of all time. Kudos to her for bringing this top-notch quality playing and contributing cultural legacy of these great composers. Yuja Wang is an iconic musician who has an incredible rhythmic sensitivity for playing magnificently especially great Russian composers’ music and feeling in her playing and people who say the opposite are simply haters. Big respect and love to her! Greetings fron Turkey.

At the age of nine I ran down the street playing a whistle.

I cannot believe it that her small fingers moved really same way compared to her doing nowadays :-) Just incredible and unbelievable

It was all there already. What sensitive playing! What control of the instrument, what command. How much her teachers really taught her later on only she could say, probably. But it is obvious she already had most if not all the qualities to become a virtuoso pianist, to make that her career objective. At 9 years old! AND she spoke & acted & thought Chinese then too, which I find at least as interesting as her American persona. PS: And I love the haircut & her ears! :-)

A bit fast but I was extremely impressed at how much emotion she was able to express despite being only the age of 6... following standard music is hard but to make your interpretation of it is the next step so for her to be doing it at such a young age is extremely impressive

Just beautiful! Yuja who is now one of the most famous and in-demand pianists in the world shows that her genius was evident from the start. I hope her playing inspires many young classical musicians to follow in her path and keep classical music vibrant and beautiful for audiences the world over for a long time to come.

She is indeed not only the top concert pianist in the world, but at 33 years old, she is an incredibly attractive young woman. You certainly could not mistake her for a male at this point in her life!

She was exquisite, she is exquisite , I am wordless :c

Amazing. Yuja was just 9 years old but already has her taste.

Such a beautiful piece and my favourite by Debussy. Hard to believe that a nine year old could master it so well. A child prodigy for sure.

What impresses me the most is her natural musicality--I don't know any 9 year olds with that expressiveness and sense of pace. Born to make music.

Played with understanding of and love for the music. If you can't hear it, you're deaf.

What a doll she was and still today. More importantly what a wonderful Pianist. Her passion, interpretation and accuracy is just wonderful. What a wonderful gift she is to the world of music. Thank you Yuja.

Brava! What an unbelievable talented child, and now a talented woman! I would be willing to bet that this piece is well known in Asian countries, because of Debussy's use of modes and melody. I can almost see, hear, and smell peaceful water and drifting Lilly pads in garden ponds, and cherry blossom pedals gently falling and floating to the earth in the sunlight....

This is absolutely incredible 💕 this piece is one of my favorites of all time. I can listen to it for hours on end without getting bored.

If someone posted a video of a 9yo butchering Fur Elise there would be nothing but praise in the comments. And rightly so, because it is a 9 year old kid!!! Yet here is 9yo Yuja showing clear genius and armchair critics abound. Absolute stupidity.

I thought I'd seen the bottom of the barrel for sad, unpleasant comments on grown up Yuja. I was wrong. May: came back and listened to this enchanting child again, more impressed than ever. The promise is getting (got?) fully realised. Hard to believe she can get better...September - and she did. :-) A later look - OMG there really are some sick unhappy people in this world. If Yuja cannot move them, they are beyond all hope. So sad.

I love young people who embrace classical music. South Korean, Chinese, and Japanese students work hard at it. We need American kids to work hard too. Classical music is timeless. The composers who created the pieces set a standard of performance that all people recognize. Yuga is in her 30s. She continues to thrill and mesmerize audiences to this day.

Her first teacher said that she's the best natural talent he has ever seen in his life. I agree

Interesting to see how children with outstanding musical fine motor skills - and having diversified and maybe outstanding skills is what makes a creature an individual and a human a human - reminds us of the fact that music, like gestures, like body language, is an analogue, universal language so easily accessible; and so far away from the so called ‘digital’, because of word-bit-for-word-bit divided word-language. Really nice what you are doing, Yuja Wang (were doing at that age and still are doing now); thanks for sharing it with us, and go on enjoying!

Wow I struggle to remember my email address and this is a child playing this complicated piece ; I’ve watched the grown up Yuja play a hour and a half concert and do 4 oncores and apart from the incredible playing I’m staggered that anybody can remember all those notes

Even at her young age she appears to understand the underlying feeling and intent giving it life releasing the wonderful emotions that it evokes in the mind - In other words cool :)

thanks for posting this - I didn't know Yuja was such a "veteran" - sounds like a mature player even at 9 years old. She reminds me of the new jazz piano prodigy Joey Alexander who at 11 already sounds like a seasoned player on the jazz scene.

C'est le commencement d'une si belle carrière! Comme elle était sérieuse! L'enfance d'un génie!

ABSOLUTAMENTE GENIAL !! YUJA WANG, DE LAS MEJORES PIANISTAS DE TODOS LOS TIEMPOS !!!! NO ALCANZA EL PELOMETRO !! MUCHAS FELICIDADES DONDE QUIERA QUE TE ENCUENTRES YUJA !!!

Supernaturally brilliant, as always, and at an age when most kids are nervously preparing for their first piano recital! Even as an elementary-school pianist she displays the familiar intense engagement with the music, still her inimitable trademark.

he feels her music....incredible for such a young soul

Wow! I can't believe she was that good at the age of 9, it's wonderful. I started playing piano when I was 7 years old and even now 11 years later I'm not nearly as good as her. Yuja Wang is just amazing!

it seems so easy and natural playing an instrument when you see a genius' performance!

This recording took place in Paris. It was her first trip in this city and she was excited to spend a week there without her parents 😄Source : Notation #5 (Magazine de l'Orchestre de Paris)

You close your eyes and you will have never ever thought that this coming from 9yo girl. So matured the performance is..

50 percent of these comments" stop hating, you can do no better " 49 percent of these comments" she's amazing " 1 percent " it isn't good"

The people who criticised Wang Yujia under this video are just PATHETIC

How can she play like this at 9 yrs old? She really isn't normal. She has the same facial expressions she does today. It really is interesting.

Oh, my! I've listened entranced to hours of the 'grown up girl's' magic, especially her Rach. 2! Thank you for posting!

And to think her mother wanted her to be a dancer. Instead, saying herself that she was “lazy”, she chose to be pianist. Watching her play into her adulthood, what an athlete she is, and incredible musician.

I just started learning how to play the piano, she's nine and can already play better than me! She is one of my biggest inspirations.

What. You. Are. God. Yuja. She makes it look so easy, effortless. Insane.

no words just tears

As a prodigy, started pretty well, at least IMHO. Lack of deep emotional surpassed by the fact that SHE HAD ONLY 9 YEARS OLD! My God! Mrs. Wang... merci beaucoup! So well you manage with that lackness of deep emotional that only Debussy music requires... C´mon people! Bravo! OVATION!

This “Wunderkind” is fabulous! Already she has dazzling technical proficiency, great interpretative gifts, & total command of the instrument. With loving what you are doing, all a pianist needs to become great.

Yuja plays an amazing number of classical pieces, all from memory. That is so impressive. I'd so enjoy seeing her in person. I'd even enjoy watching a practice session of hers.

Has anybody compared the nine year old Yuja with Amira Willighahen when she was nine in October 2013? From this ability at nine Yuja has gone on to be one ofthe the greatest pianists the world has ever heard or seen. She has that special personality and talent that cannot be taught. Amira has it too in her voice, her smile and her concern for others less fortunate than herself. She is still only 13, I wonder will we be listening to her in ten years or so and calling her the world's greatest diva? I hope so and cannot put into words how much both these two ladies have altered my aproach to enjoying music. Not technically judging performances but judging people by the way they captivate me through their genius and such pleasant personalities. Above all judging them by how much enjoyment they give me.

She played it beautifully

Es resaltante para mi que la mayoria de la personas que opinan aqui no saben de musica. Debussy es extremadamente dificil para un adulto experimentado. Que se puede decir de eta niña que hace una interpretacion impecable y maravillosa. EXCELENTE.

unbelievable - such an interpretation by a 9 years old kid. unreal! phantastic!

Bravissimo !! Every detail of her later professionality is already visible - and audible.

Such a talented woman, if one talent is any indication of a persons intelligence Mis Wang must be a genius. I once watched film of legendary late Glen Gould being interviewed where he wanted to talk about anything except music, too often all we appreciated someone for is their musical talent and appearance without appreciating the person's other intellectual qualities!

❤beautiful inspiring playing, for a 9yr old ❤❤❤❤

Love her so much, she is the best & my most favorite pianist

she was born to make music-- and we can admire her and love the divine music she makes --

She was such a lovely girl!

Then ,as now, it is so clear that this person really feels the music .

She’s a pianist now!!! The top places in China!

Aos nove anos impressionava com a agilidade dos seus Dedos Velozes ! Hoje a deusa nos encanta com a suavidade e energia dos seus recitais ! Como é bom acompanhar sua trajetória ouvindo sempre boa música ! VIDA LONGA E SUCESSO !!!

I think that Yuja Wang's classicist mood suits this piece very well. It has some freshness inside. Nice.

She had such a natural instinct for the music's timbre and pace; no wonder Gary Graffman was impressed when he first heard her.

О эти трогательные розовые ушки❤❤❤

Very fast tempo. No need to rush it, love. Plenty of time - you’ve got your whole life ahead of you ! 😁

Lovely! I went to school with a child prodigy too. It was wonderful and a treat for us to her her play. Philomena MacRea was playing concertos at the Albert Hall at the age of 7. She also played this and my favourite at the age of eight Russell of Spring.

June 12th 2023 this young pianists, now a bit older, is and always will be one of the greatest… ever

what a beautiful child

Merveilleux. Merveilleuse Yuja.

This is - for me at least - the maximal expression of happiness since music exsists at all.

I WANNA PLAY THIS SONG SO BAD!! Yuja wang is a genius and I'm struggling as a 16 year old with Bach inventions 🙃

what a precious video for her!

She is so adorable!

¡ Excelente, bravo, adorable Yuja, estás en máximo cumbre pianístico !!!!

This is like a sign of a benevolent god. Beautiful.

Ya se la veía venir... casos como los de Yuja Wang y Aimi Kobayashi nos muestran que comenzando desde muy corta edad y amando lo que haces puedes llegar muy lejos... ¡Gracias!

She was so unbelievably adorable!

有り得ない感動すぎてやばい この歳で…ものすんごい努力したんだろうな、、、

So lovely!

Very good for someone learning the piano for 2-3 years....

Wow! Very talented! Beautiful!!!

Superb touch, control, feeling even then!

I've been playing for thirty years and I can't touch this!

She is 王羽佳!BRAVO

Wow so beautiful and natural how she plays. Enjoyed it!! Why don’t we, the majority of pianists, who have anatomically the the same muscles, extensors and flexors and fingers as she does play that as she does? Unfair!

Absolutely amazing!!! OMG!

Encantadora niña, y ahora de mujer creiblemente talentosa

Such emotions! Such passions!!!!

She's an angel! 😇

Que hermosura de niña....! hoy día Amo todo lo que es y lo que hace....

OMG, she was adorable! Look at her button nose and big ears. Oh how she has matured musically and as a human being.