Russian composer Rachmaninoff's piano and orchestra works are known for their high skill and difficulty, and the 35-year-old Chinese pianist Wang Yujia has to challenge his five piano works in one breath.
The 2022/2023 season has just been officially announced at Carnegie Hall in New York, usa, among which the "Rahe Special" solo by Wang Yujia has attracted much attention - at 2 p.m. on January 28, 2023, under the direction of conductor Yannick and the philadelphia orchestra, Wang Yujia wants to challenge Rach's five piano and orchestra works, including four piano concertos and "Paganini Theme Rhapsody", during which there are two intermissions.
Carnegie Hall used superstars to describe Wang Yujia, and highlighted this once-in-a-lifetime, marathon concert as a highlight, "This is a rare, must-see concert." ”
When the news came to China, the music fans were calmed by this "big move" released by Wang Yujia.
"Won't it collapse? This is Rahe! "Super Saiyan, combat power explosion" "Iron Female Warrior, worthy of being a good sister"... Fans were surprised by Wang Yujia's good physical strength and shouted "the ears are going to listen to cramps."
"She plays for about 150 minutes at a time, not including intermission." Referring to Wang Yujia's previous recordings of Rach's works, music critic Li Yanhuan gave the surging news reporter such a schedule, laughing, "Just thinking about it is tiring." ”
"La II" recorded by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by Wang Yujia and Abbado
"La San" recorded by the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra conducted by Wang Yujia and Dudamel
Not just physically challenging, but also technically difficult.
"Rahe himself is a highly skilled pianist, and each of his piano concertos places very high demands on the pianist's skill. In terms of real hard skills, 'Pull Three' is the most difficult of the four works. Li Yanhuan said.
"La San" is known as "the world's most difficult piano concerto", and the composer tries to make the piano match the orchestral power of the entire orchestra with its own strength, so that it occupies most of the discourse power and expressiveness in the repertoire, almost approaching the limit of the piano playing power.
The creation of the four concertos ran through Rahe's life, and the span of style was relatively large.
"'Pull One' is a product of his student days; 'Pull Two' and 'Pull Three' are his most mature works and works when he is most energetic; when he created 'Pull Four', he had already arrived in the United States, and in order to survive for a long time as a pianist, the number of creations decreased. The first three are typical Romantic works, the fourth is completely different, a 20th-century work, with a spirit of innovation. ”
Although the difficulty was great, Li Yanhuan felt that Wang Yujia was determined to accept this challenge, and thought that the other side was fighting a prepared battle.
For example, the most popular "La-Two" and "La-San" in the four concertos have long been the reserved tracks of Wang Yujia's mastery. As early as 2011, 24-year-old Wang Yujia recorded "Pull Two" with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by Abbado. In 2013, at the age of 26, Wang Yujia recorded "La San" with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dudamel. Both albums were released worldwide by DG.
Since her debut, Wang Yujia has interpreted these two works more than once on the international stage and at large-scale music festivals, and her petite body has exploded with amazing energy. In October 2019, at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Wang Yujia also shared the stage with the "Master of the King" Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and dedicated "La San" to the Shanghai audience, which is still fresh in people's memories.
In November 2017, at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Wang Yujia shared the stage with the Berliner Philharmonic Orchestra
In October 2019, at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Wang Yujia shared the stage with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
This year, Wang Yujia, who has been wandering on the European and American stages, has taken "Pull One" as a must-play song. Just this past February, she collaborated with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bichkov on "Pull One".
"There's only 'Pull Four,' and I haven't heard her act yet, whether it's audio or video." Li Yanhuan believes that Wang Yujia's ability to perform four concertos in one go is not achieved overnight, but the result of thick accumulation and thin hair, and it is a manifestation of her achievements that she has accumulated for more than ten years and worked hard for more than ten years.
The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is also a late work by Rach. This work is based on Paganini's 24 violin capriccios, using the musical theme of the 24th capriccio, expressing the composer's personal style with brilliant technique, and in the beautiful melody, it implies the "Russian melancholy" that will never fade. In the circle, everyone is used to calling it "pull five".
Prior to this, a pianist split Rahe's five piano works in two in one day and performed them in two. In December 2015, under the leadership of Gergiev, the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra took the stage at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and spent two days presenting Rahe's "Musical Journey" in a panoramic way – five piano works were performed by four pianists, including Sun Yingdi, Li Zhuoyu, Daniel Karitonov, and Lucas Debag.
Challenging Five of Lach's piano works like Wang Yujia's at once is rare on the international stage. Some people also questioned whether concerts are not sports competitions, so does it make sense to run a marathon like this?
Some fans believe that the significance lies in the fact that the composer's creative background and life story in this genre can be seen in a short period of time, "Listening to a composer's complete work is like looking at a grand building on an airplane, so that the audience has the perspective of God, is there anything more meaningful than this?" For hours, get to know a person for a lifetime. ”
Li Yanhuan also believes that "first, you can concentrate on feeling the creative context of the composer; second, you can also see how a pianist can swim between several works of different styles at the same time." ”
Since the epidemic, as one of the most active and popular world-class pianists in the "post-80s", Wang Yujia's performance footprint has been in Europe and the United States. In July, she had planned to return to China to take the stage at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center. If the show goes well, she will bring works by Nikolai Kapustin, Scriabin, Albeniz and others.