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Fantasia / Yuja Wang

Wang,Yuja
Release Date: 04/10/2012 
Label:  Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog #: 001660602   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Sergei Rachmaninov,  Domenico Scarlatti,  Christoph W. Gluck,  Isaac Albeniz,   ... 
Performer:  Yuja Wang
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
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Notes and Editorial Reviews



The Yuja Wang album that everyone has been waiting for wows with musical miniatures that are short, sweet, and huge in impact. These encore pieces by Scriabin, Gluck, Rachmaninov, Chopin and others will enthrall Yuja Wang's fans with challenging technical demands and the bravura precision of her execution.

The melding of her legendary technical skills with her interpretive intelligence transforms this album of treats into a profound musical experience.

The variety of styles - which includes neo-Classical, Impressionist, Romantic, jazz - in addition to the quality of the arrangements of pieces that are adaptations, provides a welcome and yet Read more unique listening experience.

REVIEW QUOTES:

"Wang's playing-style is more focused than flamboyant and she has a distinctive, deft technique that allows for an astonishing lightness of touch..."

- Nick Shave, BBC Music Magazine / March 2012

"...sensitive and mature technique...clever programming skills...The variety is enough here to make the listener giddy, especially when presented in such vivid, richly textured studio sound. 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" . . . With such tracks we listen intently, happy to follow Wang's fingers wherever they take us..."

- Geoff Brown, The Times (London) / March 23, 2012

FULL REVIEW

Whatever programmatic agenda Yuja Wang had in mind for her third solo DG release, I detect not so much a “Fantasia” as a “Vladimir Horowitz Tribute” due to her inclusion of two celebrated Horowitz transcriptions, along with other works associated with the legendary pianist such as Rachmaninov’s E-flat minor Etude-Tableau, Scriabin’s Op. 32 No. 1 Poème, Chopin’s C-sharp minor Waltz, and Scarlatti’s G major K. 455 sonata. That said, Wang’s impressive prowess and effusive personality can withstand the comparison.

Granted, her repeated notes in the Scarlatti don’t quite match Horowitz’s power, projection, and colorful contrasts (nor does Wang observe the repeats that Horowitz took in his 1962 studio recording), while the E-flat minor Etude-Tableau’s yearning melodies fall short of Horowitz’s shapely specificity and inner drama. While Wang’s skittish phrasing in the Rachmaninov B minor Op. 39 No. 4 underplays the music’s rhythmic backbone, the opposite holds true in her supple, effortless grasp of the Op. 39 No. 6 A minor’s leaping chords and swirling runs. Her lithe and flexible treatments of the Schubert/Liszt Gretchen am Spinnrade and Gluck/Sgambati “Melodie” from Orfeo ed Euridice seem to float out of the instrument, and the Chopin Waltz’s middle-section embellishments are seductively understated. Wang’s sparkling and wittily pointed pianism throughout Victor Straub’s rare solo piano transcription of Dukas’ L’apprenti sorcier almost makes you forget the composer’s ingenious orchestration.

The Scriabin miniatures are appropriately atmospheric by virtue of Wang’s careful pedaling and nuanced phrasing. She makes child’s play of the interlocking octaves and nearly impossible leaps in the Cziffra/Strauss Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, yet where is the nervous energy, explosive accentuation, and high-wire temperament of Cziffra’s own recording? But Wang brings off Horowitz’s Carmen and Danse macabre with admirable aplomb. Indeed, her smaller, rounder piano tone suits the diabolical passagework just as effectively as Horowitz’s more forceful, gaunter sonority. She doesn’t internalize Triana’s lively accentuations and juicy harmonic concoctions to Alicia De Larrocha’s smoldering degree, but then again, few other pianists do. Overall, an enchanting release.

Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com
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Works on This Recording

1.
Morceaux de fantaisies (5), Op. 3: no 1, Elégie in E flat minor by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1892; Russia 
2.
Etudes-tableaux (9) for Piano, Op. 39: no 6 in A minor by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1916-1917; Russia 
3.
Etudes-tableaux (9) for Piano, Op. 39: no 5 in E flat minor by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1916-1917; Russia 
4.
Etudes-tableaux (9) for Piano, Op. 39: no 4 in B minor by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1916-1917; Russia 
5.
Sonata for Harpsichord in G major, K 455/L 209 by Domenico Scarlatti
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Baroque 
Written: 18th Century 
6.
Orfeo ed Euridice: Dance of the Blessed Spirits by Christoph W. Gluck
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Classical 
Written: 1762/1774; Vienna, Austria 
7.
Suite Iberia, Book 2: no 3, Triana by Isaac Albeniz
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1906; France 
8.
Variations on a Theme from Bizet's "Carmen" by Vladimir Horowitz
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
9.
Gretchen am Spinnrade (Schubert) for Piano, S 558 no 8 by Franz Liszt
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1837-1838; France 
10.
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Op. 214 by Johann Strauss Jr.
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1858; Vienna, Austria 
 Notes: Arrangement: György Cziffra 
11.
Waltzes (3) for Piano, B 164/Op. 64: no 2 in C sharp minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1846-1847; Paris, France 
12.
L'apprenti sorcier by Paul Dukas
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1897; France 
 Notes: Arrangment: Victor Staub 
13.
Preludes (6) for Piano, Op. 13: no 6 in G major by Alexander Scriabin
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1895; Russia 
14.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 11: no 12 in G sharp minor by Alexander Scriabin
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1888-1896; Russia 
15.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 11: no 11 in B major by Alexander Scriabin
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1888-1896; Russia 
16.
Etudes (12) for Piano, Op. 8: no 9 in G sharp minor by Alexander Scriabin
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1894; Russia 
17.
Poèmes (2) for Piano, Op. 32: no 1 in F sharp major by Alexander Scriabin
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1903; Russia 
18.
Danse macabre in G minor, Op. 40 by Camille Saint-Saëns
Performer:  Yuja Wang (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1874; France 
 Notes: Arrangement: Franz Liszt, then Vladimir Horowitz 

Featured Sound Samples

Études-tableaux for Piano, op 39 (Rachmaninov): No 6 in A minor
Variations on a Theme from Bizet's "Carmen" (Horowitz)
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka (Strauss)

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 5 Customer Reviews )
 So much fun September 17, 2013 By Mary Lynn H. (San Antonio, TX) See All My Reviews "These are great pieces. Yuja Wang is a excellent player." Report Abuse
 Emotive without trying to be. June 26, 2012 By Dr. Mitchell Gurk (Spencer, MA) See All My Reviews "i have not dared to play this one too many times because with each listen, this mature tho young pianist breaks my heart. How could she feel so much that is so complex!" Report Abuse
 Gifted Playing May 24, 2012 By M. Bishop (Clackamas, OR) See All My Reviews "Yuja Wang in her "Fantasia" album demonstrates gifted playing at its best. Her fingers literally fly over the keyboard and caress the right notes, evoking sounds that please the ear and appeal to one's classical music sense. I compared her rendition of Chopin's Waltz No. 7 with Artur Rubenstein's 1960's era version of the same tune, which I have in my musical library. She closely rivals Rubenstein in her approach to the music and in her musical appeal to the audience. I highly recommend her album to those seeking fluent piano musical interpretations." Report Abuse
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