4 and a half hour "Music Marathon" challenge
Refreshing the "ceiling" of the piano world
Even the conductor knelt
Inside Carnegie Hall in the United States, Chinese pianist Wang Yujia stepped on the sky high, and the muscles from his ankles to his arms were tense. Her slightly slender fingers smashed on the keys, completely selfless, almost crazy.
After the 4 hours and 30 minutes of performance, conductor Yannick knelt directly on the ground and admired her to the ground.
This exaggerated "kneeling" picture quickly ignited the audience and also caused heated discussions on global social media
This is the first time in history that someone has completed the performance of five works by Rachmaninov in one night, which is unprecedented. At this moment, Wang Yujia became a well-deserved piano queen.
There was also an episode in the performance, when the music marched to the end of the second piano concerto, some audience members fainted with excitement and were taken to the hospital, fortunately there was no major problem.
In fact, this is not the first time that Wang Yujia has been out of the circle. She is Lang Lang's classmate and sister, giving an average of more than 100 concerts a year, performing in world-class concert halls, and was once considered "the busiest pianist in the world".
For more than 30 years, she has won numerous international awards, and because of her independent and special dress style, she is nicknamed "Piano Witch".
01
Super-tight skinny skirt with sky-high hatred
In controversy, we go our own way
Wang Yujia's performance is very difficult, with more than 400 pages of music score alone, which is a multiple challenge to memory, endurance, explosiveness and physical strength.
Under normal circumstances, a concert lasted up to two hours, but this concert lasted 4 and a half hours, which is equivalent to one person shoveling ten truckloads of coal, without even drinking saliva in between.
Therefore, the New York Times said that Wang Yujia challenged Mount Everest in the music world; "Thick and sensual, the touches are resolute, but not a single note shows hectic or harsh."
The New York Classical Music Review was equally praised: "Playing four concertos plus Rhapsody on a Paganini theme is simply beyond the limits of humanity." ”
Interestingly, just a few years ago, these media were still ridiculing Wang Yujia's short skirt as out of place, accusing the skirt of being shorter and more close, and it would become "18 forbidden".
At this concert, her short skirt became the highlight again. After each performance, she would step down and change into a new costume, the colors were as bold, bright and powerful as ever.
Wang Yujia prefers ultra-short tight skirts with high saturation, and there is nothing that the rainbow seven colors dare not try. Like what:
Blazing red
Bright yellow
Eye-catching green
Intense blue
Even if she steps on the sky height of 15 centimeters, she can walk on the ground and step on the piano pedal to swim with ease.
This unique style of dress has been questioned in the conservative tradition of classical music.
In 2011, she was invited to perform at the Hollywood Bowl, it was very hot, and she wore a short skirt to the stage without much thought. Unexpectedly, after the concert, controversy ensued, and the New Critic even said that her dress "resembled a stripper's dress".
The "lying down" action she designed attracted overwhelming scolding, and was criticized for being too outrageous and not elegant enough.
For the praise and disapproval of the outside world, Wang Yujia did not care, and still dressed differently and coolly. In her opinion, if the music itself is beautiful and sensual, why not wear the right clothes to express it?
She not only likes to wear short skirts, but also likes to design her own. When I have free time, I draw pictures for the tailors and discuss my ideas with them.
In fact, the reason why Wang Yujia abandoned the traditional dress was also a helpless move. She is small in stature and does not fit in any way when wearing a dress. Even if she barely wears it, it is uncomfortable, and she will trip over the long skirt, which is more convenient for her to play freely on stage.
Over time, everyone gradually got used to her style of dressing, as she herself said: "I don't want to pretend, I won't change, people will slowly adapt." ”
02
He went abroad alone at the age of 14
It's very hard to practice the piano
Wang Yujia's piano talent seems to be innate.
She is a native of Beijing, her father is a percussionist, her mother is a dancer, and she listens to Beethoven and Bach in prenatal education. When she was a child, she had a red Japanese Yamaha princess piano at home, and she would fumble and play whatever music she heard on TV.
Her mother asked her to choose between dancing and learning the piano, and she chose the piano without saying a word, for the simple reason that playing the piano can at least sit and not be tired.
At the age of 8, she had already reached the level of level 10 and could control the repertoire required by level 10.
At that time, the video of the demonstration of playing in the piano textbook was recorded by her, and she became a "little prodigy" in the minds of many piano children and parents.
She loves to play at a whirlwind pace, her fingers flying on the keyboard, as fast as a bolt of lightning
A song "Wild Bees Flying" completely surprised everyone. Mesmerizing hand speed for an adrenaline-pumping experience. The middle octave was incredibly fast, as if there were really wild bees flying, which gave her the nickname "flying finger piano player".
At the age of 14, Wang Yujia went to Canada alone, and the following year went to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
The Curtis Institute of Music, a cradle of top musicians, has an acceptance rate of just 3.2 percent, and she stood out from more than 100 competitors.
After entering the academy, Wang Yujia worked very hard, and it was impossible to practice the piano. When she was working with Abbado on Prokofiev's Third Concerto, she cracked her nails and continued to play them despite the pain of drilling her heart.
She is also keen to gnaw hard bones, always starting with the biggest, hardest tracks. When she put Liszt's work into the program, she began with the complex Sonata in B minor.
Looking back on her growth path, there is actually no mystery, talent and hard work are unbreakable iron laws.
03
Famous for saving the scene
Don't do "female version of Lang Lang"
As her fame grows, the media often compares Wang Yujia and Lang Lang together, calling her the "female version of Lang Lang".
Indeed, there are too many similarities between the two. They were all leaders in the piano industry, from China to the world, and they all studied at the Central Conservatory of Music, and later studied under Professor Gary Graffman.
Wang Yujia has been studying with piano educator Ling Yuan since she was 7 years old. Coincidentally, Ling Yuan's husband Zhao Pingguo had been Lang Lang's teacher, and the second elder witnessed their growth.
Wang Yujia's latest Weibo is to wish Teacher Ling Yuan a happy birthday.
More dramatically, both Wang Yujia and Lang Lang are famous for saving the scene. In 1999, after 17-year-old Lang Lang rescued Andre Watts, he was cooperated with many world-renowned symphony orchestras.
In 2005, 18-year-old Wang Yujia performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 for Radu Rupp, and his free playing skills were praised by the Canadian media as a new star.
However, Wang Yujia did not like this horizontal comparison, and she responded generously in an interview: "I am different from Lang Lang!" ”
Lang Lang is 5 years older than her, whether it is at the Central Conservatory of Music or the Curtis Conservatory of Music, every time he graduates, she only enters the school. Lang Lang's performance gave her a lot of inspiration, but the two did not have much intersection in school.
Music critic Mark Swede is also keenly aware that they have very different personalities and styles. Lang Lang is long in melody, and the audience is mostly dressed formally, silent and restrained. Wang Yujia is longer at rhythm, and the audience is more casual and noisy.
Compared with being a "female version of Lang Lang", Wang Yujia wants to be herself and use the piano to bring vitality, enthusiasm and strength to more people.
Outside of the piano, she has a rich life and has described herself in 3 words: crazy, low laugh, and a little nerd. She loves to read Haruki Murakami, loves Lady Gaga, often goes to the beach to bask in the sun, and does spa and skydiving.
However, most of her time is spent on stage. Because she often shuttles between airports and hotels, even the doorman of the community does not know her. There were bed bugs in the house, and she didn't know about it until the house manager came looking for her.
Wang Yujia is not informal, but she strives for perfection when playing the piano. With her love and hard work for many years, she let us see the dazzling light of a Chinese girl at the top of world music.
Text/Silence Shin
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