Photo, Chris Lee
Saturday, January 28, 2023
Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, New York City
Guest Reviewer, Susan Stempleski
Yuja Wang has built a career on stunning displays of virtuosity. But tackling all five of Rachmaninoff’s works for piano-and-orchestra during one afternoon represented an audacious challenge over which, with her physical stamina, steadfast focus, and exceptionally competent technique, she triumphed. Her achievement was not only artistic; it was also historic. No other artist has played these works in a single concert at Carnegie Hall or – as far as I have been able to determine – anywhere else. With two ten-minute pauses, two twenty-minute intermissions, and an interruption due to a medical emergency in the audience which halted the final movement of the program opener for a quarter of an hour, the concert verged on four and a half hours. Wang remained totally concentrated and she played from memory, with riveting self-possession and emotional engagement.
The Philadelphia Orchestra – which has a unique relationship with the pieces on this program, having premiered the Fourth Piano Concerto and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and recording all five with the composer as soloist, Ormandy or Stokowski conducting – performed superbly throughout the marathon event. With Yannick Nézet-Séguin directing with total commitment, exceptional precision, and gorgeous phrasing, the ensemble sounded consistently gleaming and glorious, and in complete synchronization with the pianist.
The program order was changed at the eleventh hour. A printed insert and a pre-concert announcement revealed that the first two pieces would be reversed, with the Second Concerto preceding the less-familiar First. From the first notes of the C-minor’s muscular opening Moderato, as Wang’s instrument inexorably intoned its stately chords in a steady crescendo, it was clear that she was completely comfortable in this repertoire. Following a powerfully expansive first movement climax, she shaped a beautifully tender treatment of the central Adagio, replete with romantic ardor and delicacy. The playful Finale had all the sparkle and bravura one could want, with the lyrical melody turned seductively poetic.
Following a ten-minute break (and the first of four costume changes for the soloist) came a fanciful and warmly romantic rendering of the revised F-sharp minor Concerto – in its final (1917) version. With excellent support from Nézet-Séguin and his forces, Wang displayed plenty of expressive fervor in all three movements, especially the vibrant Finale where her scintillating playing generated an abundance of fire and excitement.
Lacking the grandiose themes present in Rachmaninoff’s other Piano Concertos, the Fourth (final version) might be considered the black sheep in the group. Only the second movement has a conspicuous melody, and the music can sometimes seem uncharacteristically detached. However, as interpreted by Wang and the Philadelphians, the piece came off as a mostly lively modernistic work marked by a singular jazzy quality with echoes of Gershwin, and a subtly attractive romanticism in the melancholy motif of the Largo.
Wang’s astounding technique was highly effective in her charismatic approach to the Rhapsody in which the composer puts the Paganini theme (Caprice Twenty-Four) through a series of infinitely imaginative commentaries. She played the opening with relatively subdued sound, which was sometimes subsumed within that of the orchestra, but when the music broke into more elaborate passagework, she executed the brilliant flourishes with crisp brio, fine detail, and a surplus of fiery virtuosity. The highpoint was the celebrated Variation XVIII, bursting with poetic feeling and passionate fervor.
After three-and-a-half hours of music-making, she continued to be dazzling through the grueling Third Concerto. After allowing the warmth of the simple opening to unwind with engaging spontaneity, she brought the rest of the herculean work to life in an astounding account which built up to the greatest possible tension in the closing climax. In response to the thunderous ovation and a gentle nudge from Nézet-Séguin, on her fifth return to the stage, she calmed things with a serenely delicate rendition of one of her (and Rachmaninoff’s) favorite encores: Giovanni Sgambati’s transcription of the ‘Dance of the Blessed Spirits’ from Gluck’s 1762 opera, Orfeo ed Euridice.
Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No.2 in C-minor, Op.18
Piano Concerto No.1 in F-sharp minor, Op.1
Piano Concerto No.4 in in G-minor, Op.40
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43
Piano Concerto No.3 in D-minor, Op.30
Yuja Wang (piano)/The Philadelphia Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin
This review will also appear on The Classical Source website
She a phenomenon.
I’m so proud of her! She’s broken a lot of ground. May she continue to have success.
We are benefitting from years and hours of practice. Thank you Ms. Wang.
As I said some time ago , I can only listen to 2 pianists and not get tired: Richter and Wang.
I thought Khatia buniatishvilli was a better tech player but Yuja proved to be the greater musician…stone genius!!!!!
Was it perhaps recorded?
Sometimes a concert is promoted as more than “just” a concert (as if great music performed magnificently is not enough). Well, tonight‘s program of Rachmaninoff’s four piano concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody was one of those things. With Yuja Wang at the piano and Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, this Carnegie Hall concert was marketed by the press as AN EPIC EVENT! AN AURAL AND VISUAL EXTRAVAGANZA!! A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME MUSICAL EXPERIENCE!!!
Strike one for overhype?!
This also was one of those milestone celebrations, marking the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the birth of a composer beloved by worldwide audiences. Thus, rather than a thoughtfully curated program by an imaginative musical director of works by composers from different eras, this concert consisted of five large piano works by the Last Great Romantic Composer, back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back, with an endless parade of pyrotechnics, hammering crescendos, and over-used movie music. Dear audience members, please leave your Modernist sensibilities at the door.
Strike two for sentimental sonic overload?!
And, of course, there is the soloist’s penchant for elaborate and skimpy show-girl costumes, which some critics might call “strike three” for audience-pandering, even before the first note was played.
Having spent the afternoon and early evening with these amazing musicians, however, I am happy to report that this concert was a Grand Slam. (Please excuse the strained baseball metaphors.)
The heart and soul of the concert was the performance by Yuja Wang. The word “nuance” does not come to mind when I think of Rachmaninoff’s orchestral music, but time and again Wang used the full range of dynamics and coloring that a great player can coax from a piano. As to be expected, Wang lit up the Hall with the pianistic fireworks that the composer places in the soloist’s hands. Wang fearlessly met the extreme requirements of agility and power that Rachmaninoff imposes on the soloist. Her confident playing allowed us in the audience to be equally confident, and to simply take in and marvel at the music and her virtuosity. During the cadenzas, particularly in the Second and Third Concertos, as well as during the solo passages in the Rhapsody, I had to remind myself to breathe. You might think the sheer number of breathtaking passages in the five works would diminish the player’s ability to astonish the listener, but not so. The last two works performed were the Rhapsody and the Third Concerto, which produced some of the most exciting, jaw-dropping highlights of the day. (An analogous experience might involve a trip to Nazaré, Portugal, to witness the world’s greatest surfers meeting the challenges of a series of eighty foot waves, only to be towed out to sea at the end of the day to conquer a ninety footer. Anyone complaining?! Then don’t come.)
But Wang (along with her fabulous collaborators) also captured the passionate melodies, sumptuous harmonies, and simpler pleasures found in these works. In the Largo movement of the Fourth Concerto and the quieter variations in the Rhapsody, Wang somehow played “above the keys,” reminding me of the magical playing of the late, great Radu Lupu. And here, familiarity bred joy. The program started with the Second Concerto, suffused with immediately-recognizable passages, which helped us forget about the hype and just sink into the music. And the opening section of the concluding piece – The Third Concerto – had some audience members briefly humming along. (By that time, we were so mellow and happy to be there that I didn’t mind the brief hum-along.)
The orchestra and conductor were completely committed to supporting their soloist. Only at the very end of the Third Concerto did the sound of the orchestra ever so slightly overwhelm the piano (probably by design). In every other instance, Wang was given enough space to allow the audience to hear every note she played, no matter how demanding the passage or how hard the players were bowing, blowing, and banging. (The only other time I recall such balance between an orchestra and soloist was during Martha Argerich’s remarkable performance of Prokofiev’s First and Third Piano Concertos under the baton of her ex, Charles Dutoit, with the Montreal Symphony at Carnegie Hall in 1997.)
And how in the world did the Philadelphia keep up with the soloist? As a result of the watchful eye and commanding presence of Nézet-Séguin, that’s how. While Wang can and does play at break-neck speeds, her tempi can subtly change on a dime, with unexpected accelerations or decelerations at the tail end of arpeggios and passages. No matter. Every time the orchestra had to be bought back, Nézet-Séguin drew them in with emphatic gestures at exactly the right time. He was having a grand old time, smiling with rhythmic regularity and with much-deserved satisfaction. At the conclusion of the concert, he got down on his knees and gave Yuja an “I am not worthy,” arms-extended bow.
And yes, this was a marathon, but that made it an even more rewarding and memorable experience. The musicians’ energy and enthusiasm never flagged, and the quality of the music was always top-drawer. We all felt blessed for having been there.
It would be nice to see and hear a small clip of the performance. Is there a site?
Was it recorded? One can hope…
Love Yuja, saw her once with Dudamel….astounding….
What an exciting music marathon of my favorite composer!
Thank you for review…from a pianist who can only dream~