Yuja has come so far over recent years with her interpretation of music unquestionable in the absolute top ranking pianists of this century, beyond gifted.
I first discovered Scriabin about 30 years ago and I proceeded to purchase virtually all the scores (quite expensive back then) and read & re-read them along with the complete recordings (M. Ponti). Over the next few years I remained entranced with it all; above all the sonatas the #2 sonata-fantasy struck me as one of the most beautiful works I ever have heard. It takes a great skill and state of wonder to pull it off the only way required and this young woman has done just that. Beautiful beyond words...
Thanks for even mentioning the Ponti Recordings - he was really ahead of his time and I am sad he never gets mentioned at all nowadays. I like your comment so much, I can repeat with swah=shknuckler: I want to be your friend.
I love the delicacy in the first movement. I've listened to quite a few performances, but this one stands out, and I think it's going to become my favourite.
What a great piece of music. What a wonderful pianist. Of course there will always be those who say she doesn't do this or she doesn't do that, or so and so is the quintessential interpreter and blah, blah, blah. Interesting that there are a couple of comments here that indicate that they have loved this music for 30 years ago and believe this rendition to be wonderful. I agree.
Couldn't agree more. Scriabin is a mix of passion, power, sensivity and expression inside a restricted tempo. If you loose the rythm, the music evaporates. She is one of the rare pianists that can achieve all of that. Just outstanding!
The speed is incredible. Bravo to her that at the young age to reach technical maturity and play such a hard work effortlessly. The momentum, color, pedal, and contrast are really great.
To be fair, there are some really great music critics out there who understand music and recognize greatness. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of assholes.
So, what does that mean? I would infer that musicians are a special branch of the human species: those who occupy the airy realms of art. Which means they can rightfully be compared to birds. Sometimes they just sit on their elevated perches, but then, if the spirit of the air moves them, they take off and perform their weightless acrobatics, unhindered by earthly friction. Now critics would in this analogy be those lovers, admirers and researchers of the performers and creators of this artform, who study and contemplate both the artform and its propagators. But here seems to be the salient point: not from a platform of judgement, as in: I like the (peaceful) doves and detest the sparrows (who are magnificent imitators btw), but from the standpoint of assessment about their different qualities, ways, colours, characteristics, energy, grace, feeling, spiritual content, uplift, ability to inspire, touch, humanity, sensitivity etcetera, etcetera. Thereby giving recognition to the great diversity and virtuosity of those musicians in their own rightful uniqeness..
It's very simple : when you criticize in a negative way , you are interesting . When you criticize in a positive way , you are ridiculous . How MANY times this occured to myself on YT . So many people laughed at me because I was loving an interpretation ....
Yuja did enter competitions when she was very young (and, of course, did very well) but never had a need to submit herself to competitions later. She was already recognized, even at age 17, by the music elite as an outstanding pianist. That is why she was asked when still a student to fill in for top names when they could not perform through illness or fatigue.
@@timothybolshaw that's what happened to lang lang too! he filled in for Andre Watts when he was 18 with chicago symphony. wow, to have that happen in life is stunning
This is an excellent performance and a fine interpretation. Part of Yuja's musical expressive power derives from the focused energy and passion which flow through those flying fingers. As with certain other great performers, there is some electricity her performances bring to and through the music. In places of fast passage work, her ability to execute and hold tempo and rhythms is amazing. It's an almost unique ability, and feeds into the high energy of her playing. Top notch work here.
***** I am as strong of a Richter proponent as exists this planet. He's the greatest power pianist of all time and best (my opinion) of the 20th Century. Scriabin is my favorite piano composer. Unfortunately, Richter's Scriabin is uneven in its qualities of expression, and no doubt negatively affected by the poor quality of his mostly live recorded performances. His Scriabin #2 is fantastic and as always, his formal architecture is steady and flawless. Yuja comes at it from a different angle which is extremely faithful to the score in such a way as to highlight the wandering, quasi-improvisatory feel of the first movement, and she handles the climaxes and build-ups superbly. Without injecting almost any extra time into the phrasing, she allows the formal elements to reveal themselves very naturally. The relative fluidity of her phrasing is balanced by the brilliance of her articulation and tone color. And by staying so steady through all of Scriabin's typically agogic emotional journey, she illuminates a continuously flowing aspect of the music which is rarely if ever revealed. I find this to be a very vibrant and masterful rendition.
MaestroEspressivo Great comments - it's very gratifying to read through comments sections on RU-vid in the hope of learning something and to actually come across interesting and informed viewpoints such as yours - rather than having to endure the all-too-common puerile mud-slinging that passes in some people's minds for meaningful communication about music. Thank you!
MaestroEspressivo yuja for me is a good pianist nothing more nothing less there are plenty of more inspiring pianists i could mention, personally i wouldn't put wang and richter in the same sentence [apart from that one]
Seven years ago now ..... how the time can be cruel ..... it's gone now ..........: the flower tone of Yuja, this transparency, the absolute deep innocence in every note ... this was unique ......
Yuga Wang produces a wonderfully varied tonal landscape in this Scriabin sonata. Her sound ranges from the delicately sensual to awesome full bodied drama, also her brilliant technique is more than a match for the fierce technical demands of the writing. Incidentally how refreshing to see her appropriately and elegantly attired for the occasion.
Quoi qu'en pourront dire les mauvaises langues, c'est du niveau de Sofronitzky par la clarté sombre, sans les merveilleuses outrances d'Horowitz. Yuja Wang a déjà montré que l'univers inquiétant et extatique de scriabine lui convient à merveille. Dans le star system où les jolies filles ont un avantage, cela peut lui attirer des commentaires défavorables. Il n'en demeure pas moins que c'est une admirable pianiste (et je scotomise ma testostérone).
I'm not the biggest Yuja fan, but how you can call this anything less than stellar is beyond me. I'm performing this soon - NOT easy. She pulls it off effortlessly and with bravura - usually you have one or the other.
Love Yuja’s very distinct voicing between hands in her performance of Scriabin. One hears the Genius of Scriabin , all of his sound world….rhythms and melodies. Yuja so very good!!! Wooohooo
It can be very, very challenging to bring out the melody when you have all those notes going on. I have struggled with this piece in that regard! Yuma does a really beautiful job! Thanks for sharing!
Whatever other people might say about it, I think this is a very fine and musical performance. Geert Dehoux, pianist. Belgian King's Prize Winner, Brussels, 1980.
I wish the concert piano music audience wasn't so snobby and hypercritical. I swear being a concert pianist is one of the most unforgiving things you could do.
To be fair, she is a virtuoso, but the intepretation doesn't compatr to one of lets say Kissin or Elena Richter. Just because you dont hear the mistakes she mades in order to sustain the virtuosity and athleticism she has, that does not mean that the audience is snobby and she is perfect. We shouldn't jump to conclusions so fast.
Never liked Scriabin. But today, for the first time, I heard hints of Rachmaninoff and Chopin in there - I think - and even some melody. Also loved Yuja's playing of this.
roi ranen. Just listened earlier and found it mind bendingly beautiful. However, I did not like the key it wa in... F#. Way too difficult to play, but ok to listen to - and relax.
🧏🏻♀️ Yuja Wang Plays Scriabin 🧏🏻♀️ Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) Piano Sonata No. 2 in G-Sharp Minor *(“Sonata-Fantasie”),* Op. 19 *(1892-97)* 00:27 I. Andante 08:33 II. Presto 12:09 *Applause* _”...the first movement represents the quiet of a southern night on the seashore; the development is the dark agitations of the deep, deep sea. The E Major middle section shows the caressing moonlight coming after the first darkness of night. The second movement represents the vast expanse of ocean in stormy agitation.”_ 🌜🌊 _~Alexander Scriabin~_ 🌊🌛 Yuja Wang, piano✨ *Verbier Festival 2009* *Église de Verbier* *Verbier, Switzerland 🇨🇭*
+toothless toe I'd like you to explain the irony in this tragic man's statement. Or do you have nothing better to say to cover up your immaturity than, "oh the irony"... don't bother replying some meaningless shit to me like "oh what a hipocryte"
It is mine and Carbo's personal opinion. No matter how much you like Yuja, you have to admit this. She's one of my favorite pianists, so don't lump me in with the haters.
