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YEAH!. . . YUJA!

Posted by Chris from Lafayette (A) on June 16, 2012 at 18:20:23

That's what one of the college students a couple of rows up from us yelled as the applause was just starting, as Yuja Wang, pianist and fashionista, entered the stage in her signature orange-red mini-dress and stiletto heels (made famous last year at Hollywood Bowl) for a performance with MTT and the SF Symphony of the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto Friday night. The shout must have amused MTT, because he still seemed to be chuckling as he started the performance.

Yuja's performance of the Rachmaninoff Third may be somewhat known, because there used to be (I think) a video of one of her performances on the Arte classique or Medici web sites for awhile. And I think there's a soundtrack still available on YT of one of her other performances of this work too, but, as with all of Yuja's performances, you really do need to see it to get the full Yuja experience (not to mention, as I've stated before, the lossy streaming sound from YT can in no way be used to fully assess all the qualities of a performance). This was the first time that my wife and I had ever sat in the section behind the orchestra, and, even aside from the interesting visuals that location provides, the sound quality was, strangely, just about the best I've ever heard at Davies Hall: it just had a body and a substance (and a bass extension) that it doesn't have at most other locations in the hall. (We were in the second row, center - to the keyboard side.) The one weakness however had to do with the solo piano - with the lid raised, the sound was projecting out into the main part of the hall, and it seemed pretty weak where we were. Nevertheless, I got used to it, and I could tell that Yuja was projecting the full dynamic range of that particular instrument.

You can say what you want about Yuja using her sex appeal to further her career, but I contend that she has a unique quality of playing which is still opening up new insights on many standard repertoire piano works. As with her recording of the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto and Paganini Rhapsody, some of the sections of this Third Concerto were played with a finesse and delicacy that had to be heard to be believed. I don't know of any other performance of this work which has these qualities, especially in that fantastic waltz section of the slow movement (starting at cue 32 if you have a score), with all its repeated-note sparks and electricity. Magnificent! Similarly, at cue 48 in the last movement (that puckish, whimsical part over the soft E-flat chords in the orchestra): no other pianist's touch surpasses (and most don't equal) Yuja's in this section. Brava!

Does this mean that Yuja's performance leads the pack? Hardly - but it certainly has its unique and insightful qualities, such as those just mentioned. However, at times, one might wish for a more aggressive approach at certain spots, and, as a total performance (including the orchestra's contribution) there were some details that didn't quite mesh, such as the end of the first movement, where the horns and trumpets have those quiet fanfare figures, while the piano counterpoints a high-but-thick texture of bell-like sonorities (cue 22). MTT wasn't anticipating quite correctly and allowed the orchestra to get slightly ahead - Yuja looked over at him with a pained expression, as if to say, "What are you trying to do to me?", but the lack of coordination was only momentary. In any case, Yuja got back at him at the beginning of the last movement, where MTT had set slightly too slow a tempo. Within two measures of her entrance, Yuja had ratcheted up the tempo and left MTT and the orchestra in the dust (again, only momentarily!).

My wife's "stealth" photo of Yuja and MTT acknowledging the cheering at the end.

I could write a lot more about this performance, but perhaps you get the idea.

Oh yeah - there were some other works on the program: Fauré's Pavane and Sibelius' Third Symphony. In the Fauré, I could see that they were all trying for an expressive flexibility via slightly more rubato than in most other performances I've heard - sometimes it worked very nicely, but a few times, it sounded as if the parts didn't dovetail quite correctly. BTW, the orchestra's flutist has a really beautiful tone. In the Sibelius Third, I was impressed at the virtuoso playing - especially with the unanimity and tone quality of the entire string section. I think a lot of players now in the orchestra had participated in the Sibelius cycle that Blomstedt recorded for Decca back in the 90's, and they still have a really good feel for it.

Finally, my wife had commented, "You know I'm only going to this concert to humor you!" But she admitted that she was glad she had gone, and that she liked the performances by and large, and even grudgingly observed that she thought Yuja was "cute", although, as she also observed, "I'll never know how she does that pedaling in those stiletto heels!"

BTW: we both want to give a big, big thank you to Analog Scott, who very graciously provided us with the tickets for this concert. Thanks again, Scott!

Edits: 06/16/12 06/16/12 06/16/12

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