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You are here: Home / Archives for rachmaninoff

Pianist Wynona Wang in South Kingstown, RI

Monday, October 10th, 2022 by Ken Leave a Comment

Wynona Wang

Wynona Yinuo Wang at Core Memory Music

Wynona Wang

I first met Chinese pianist Wynona Wang at a house concert in New York in 2021. I was so impressed that when I learned she was to play as a Concert Artists Guild artist in Rhode Island on October 8th 2022, I had to attend.

Core Memory Music

Core Memory Music, Rhode Island

Core Memory Music

The Core Memory Music venue in South Kingstown, Rhode Island is a 3 to 4 hour drive along the I-95 corridor from New York. The time commitment made me hesitate, but fate intervened in the form of a message from Craig Maynard, founder of Core Memory Music. Could I swing through Manhattan and pick up Ms. Wang on my way?

And so early on concert day, I pulled over in Midtown to collect my passenger. I didn’t recognize her at first, because New York is full of young Asians in skinny jeans. But up close she was the same Wynona Yinuo Wang whom I predicted would be signing autographs for us in a few years. I felt the weight of my responsibility to get this remarkable pianist to Rhode Island in one piece, on time, and rested. When she dozed off en route, I felt a sense of accomplishment.

Wynona Wang rehearsing at Core Memory Music, RI

Ms. Wang rehearsing

As we arrived at Core Memory Music, a technician was making final tweaks to the sparkling 9-ft Steinway. Ms. Wang had told me that she finished learning one of the program works just a few days earlier. She needed time on the concert instrument to get ready. Soon enough, she was riffing through elements of the program.

Wynona’s Wang’s Program

The program for this event was unusually focused. It spanned compositions from a period of just 14 years at the start of the 20th century. As Ms. Wang explained to us, these works shared a common theme of grief that each composer interpreted differently.

  • Scriabin: Valse, Opus 38 (1903)
  • Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917)
  • Janácek: Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 “From the Street” (1906)
  • Rachmaninoff: Études-Tableaux Op 39 (1916)
    • No 1 in C minor
    • No 2 in A minor
    • No. 8 in D minor
    • No. 9 in D major

In pre-recital chat, Ms. Wang identified Rachmaninoff as the composer she felt most passionate about. This may explain why I find myself so attuned to Ms. Wang’s interpretations. Indeed the entire program was a feast.

The opening Scriabin Waltz was a flowing, melodious aperitif from a bygone age. In retrospect it served mostly to warm the audience up for what was to come.

Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin is a baroque-style suite written in memory of friends lost in war. Wynona’s interpretation was elegant and restrained. Her second movement (Fugue) was impeccably timed, like jeweled clockwork. And I particularly loved her Forlane, a jazzified dance whose descending minor seconds gave me shivers. The closing Toccata was deftly executed but felt a little out of place.

In contrast, Janácek’s Piano Sonata staggers with pain. Ms. Wang’s slower second movement was spellbinding. At times she appeared immobile, her fingers barely moving. After the last notes faded, the audience was silent for 15 seconds. Partly this was because of the ambience that the pianist had evoked. But also it was because this work is unfinished, and Ms. Wang chose to let the audience feel that.

Rachmaninoff Études-Tableaux Op 39 No’s 1, 2, 8, 9

While Rachmaninoff constituted only a quarter of Ms. Wang’s recital, he overshadows much of the other repertoire with the sheer massiveness of his music (as well as his hands). Some of his works are “Russkaya Dusha” (Russian soul) personified. including these Études-Tableaux.

I hardly know where to begin with the Opus 39 Études Tableaux.  Ms. Wang’s No 1 in C minor rocked us beyond words. She has so much power, and Core Memory Music’s Steinway D has such a magnificent bottom octave, that she left us stunned in our seats.

Then there’s No. 2 in A minor, my personal favorite ever since I heard it played by my friend Ivan Gusev. Ivan, I know a Chinese pianist who takes this work to another level. Her name is Wynona Wang, and you need to hear her. I recorded her performance, here on YouTube.

As if that were not enough, Wynona also gave us No. 8 in D minor and No. 9 in D major. I am at a loss to describe how these works impacted the Core Memory Music audience. In their own words, I heard “wow, yay, bravo, BRAVO!!”. In the words of Craig Maynard, our host, “So, Rachmaninoff is smiling. Wherever he is, he’s smiling”.

Closing Thoughts

Wynona Wang is a confident, impressive pianist who totally wowed the Core Memory Music audience. She plays with such authenticity and conviction that Mr. Maynard and I wondered, were she to make mistakes, whether we would even notice.

Ms. Wang has the passion, musicianship and audience appeal that are essential for success. We hope that her time with Concert Artists Guild will help her evolve to her full potential.

 

Filed Under: Concerts, Pianists Tagged With: Concert Artists Guild, Core Memory, Core Memory Music, Craig Maynard, Janacek, rachmaninoff, Ravel, Wynona Wang, Wynona Yinuo Wang

Vienna Philharmonic: The Show Must Go On

Saturday, February 26th, 2022 by Ken Leave a Comment

Vienna Philharmonic Carnegie Hall February 2022

Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie

On February 24th, 2022, we saw the most remarkable Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra concert at Carnegie Hall. It was an all-Rachmaninoff program whose conductor and pianist were cancelled the day before the concert, due to current world events.

In their place, pianist Seong-Jin Cho flew in from Germany and Yannick Nézet-Séguin of the Metropolitan Opera stepped in as conductor.

Seon-Jin Cho is an energetic young performer who had a daunting task at Carnegie. In Central European Time (CET), he started to play at 2:25 a.m.

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No 2

From my balcony seat, the keyboard was visible from end to end like an airport runway from an incoming flight. Seong-Jin Cho’s hands were too distant to see clearly. Would he play the opening 10-key-wide left hand chords as written, or would he use a small-hand workaround? Some pianists will play the bottom note like a soft grace note; others will roll (arpeggiate) those chords. But Mr. Cho’s opening sounded as the composer intended.

Thereafter, Mr. Cho bounced and kicked his way through the concerto with spiky verve. While the piano often blended into the orchestra, Mr. Cho punched the low end through and dazzled us with high-end keyboard pyrotechnics. His brief Schubert encore was invisible by comparison.

Rachmaninoff: Symphony No 2

I own a precious 1994 recording of this symphony by Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Symphony. It is my baseline for this work. And Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s conducting was theatrically expressive, adding a whole extra dimension to the performance.

The conductor’s interpretation was well-paced and devoid of the tempo rushes I’ve heard elsewhere. This is a sweeping, soaring symphony with progressively larger climaxes salted with strong brass. And yet, something was missing in the brass: it lacked the languishing vibrato I prefer.

Closing thoughts

Some of our top pianists have stepped on to the world stage by standing in for others, but Seong-Jin Cho is already on that stage. He didn’t have to take on this challenge, but the audience at Carnegie was grateful that he did.

This was the first time I had seen the Vienna Philharmonic. Their performance was so clean that it would have been easy to take them for granted and give all the credit to Rachmaninoff. Their first violin’s solo fragments in Rachmaninoff’s 2nd symphony were particularly sweet..

As Mr. Nézet-Séguin said afterwards, if anyone wants an encore, the Vienna Philharmonic would be playing at Carnegie for the next two evenings.

Filed Under: Concerts, Public concerts Tagged With: Carnegie Hall, Denis Matsuev, rachmaninoff, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No 2, Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2, Seong-Jin Cho, St. Petersburg Symphony. Orchestra, Valery Gergiev, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Yuri Temirkanov

Pianist Wynona Wang Will Make You Smile

Sunday, November 7th, 2021 by Ken Leave a Comment

Wynona Yinuo Wang

On November 6th 2021, pianist Yinuo (Wynona) Wang entered the Shoemaker Salon with a light step and a radiant smile. A Juillard student with promising credentials, she seemed energized by this intimate setting.

Mozart: Sonata No. 13 in B-Flat Major K 333

This sonata opens with a charming allegro, crisply articulated by Ms. Wang. In subsequent movements Wynona surprised us with her lyrical flair and Beethoven-sized passion. Her Mozart appetizer became part of the main course, and we loved it.

Rachmaninoff: Prelude in F-Sharp Minor Op. 23 No. 1

The dark, F-Sharp Minor Prelude’s drifting melody and textured chromatic waves tug at our deepest emotions. In a scant few minutes, Ms. Wang’s heartfelt performance filled the salon with somber and yet ethereal yearning.

Rachmaninoff: Daisies Op. 38 No. 2

Rachmaninoff wrote his Daises song in Russia in 1916. Later, after moving to America to escape the Russian Revolution, he transcribed it for piano. In Ms. Wang’s program, Daises served as a breathing space between his massive preludes.

Rachmaninoff: Prelude in B Minor Op. 32 No. 10

Ms. Wang told us that this prelude (inspired by 1887 painting The Homecoming) was Rachmaninoff’s favorite. And it is also a Roving Pianist favorite. This quintessentially Russian work is among Rachmaninoff’s most satisfying, and Wynona Wang’s performance was moving and authentic. I loved how she stretched the harmonics of the Steinway’s deep bass in the closing moments.

Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G-Flat Major Op. 23 No. 10

The G-flat Prelude is gentle and luxuriously atmospheric. Wynona’s nuanced dynamics and clarity of voicing created some of the most sublime moments of the evening. As one guest commented afterwards, everyone in the room was connected through the spiritual beauty of Ms. Wang’s interpretation.

Rachmaninoff: Études-Tableaux Op. 39 Nos. 8 and 9

These are not my favorite Études-Tableaux, but they were well-executed. The first (Op. 39 No. 8 in D Minor) was a rolling, deliriously ecstatic clangor. The second (Op. 39 No. 9 in D Major) felt somewhat cluttered.

Schumann: Sonata No. 1 in F-Sharp Minor Op. 11

Wynona Wang owned Schumann’s sonata from its opening motifs, through romantic interludes, fugue-like diversions and seemingly endless clattering repetitions. While Schumann can feel clumsy in the wrong hands, Ms. Wang’s artful presentation showcased this lengthy, challenging Sonata at its best.

Meeting Wynona

At the piano, Wynona Wang vanished into her performance. But in person, Wynona Wang was engagingly present and effusive. She knows that she’s good, and basked happily in our admiration. In a few years, we could be standing in line for her autograph.

Wynona with Robin Shioemaker

Wynona with host Robin

Winona Yinuo Wang NYC 2021

Wynona Wang and Roving Pianist

Wynona with the Author

Filed Under: Concerts, Private Concerts Tagged With: Juilliard, Mozart, rachmaninoff, Robin Shoemaker, Schumann, Wynona Wang, Wynona Yinuo Wang, Yinuo Wang

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