Yuja Wang: NPR Music Field Recordings
Музыка
See more Field Recordings at: npr.org/series/144918893/field-recordings
"On A Chilly Factory Floor, Yuja Wang's Piano Sizzles"
Chinese-born pianist Yuja Wang isn't one to do anything in half measures. So when we invited her to record a performance in a room at the Steinway & Sons piano factory, she showed up in Queens that frigid morning with her A game.
The 27-year-old ultra-glam artist wore one of her trademark dresses, significant stiletto booties and a Gucci fur stole, as well as some wrist warmers as a concession to the temperature. She played a piece that would chop shrinking violets to mulch: Prokofiev's blisteringly difficult Toccata in D minor, Op. 11.
Somehow, that combination of bling and brawn - in both the music and Wang's approach - seemed just right for the factory, where artisans labored nearby over raw materials to fashion beautiful results. -- ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS
Producers: Mito Habe-Evans, Anastasia Tsioulcas
Videographers: Mito Habe-Evans, Becky Harlan, Christopher Parks
Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait
Editor: Becky Harlan
Special Thanks: Steinway & Sons Piano Factory
Executive Producer: Anya Grundmann
Пікірлер: 410
Love the way how she uses piano as her makeup mirror at 0:52
@lafs7967
4 жыл бұрын
@acryingonion haha!!!! 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 my piano doesn’t have a mirror there!!!! Loved your comment! ***I LIKED YOUR COMMENT*** ❄️✌🏻🌈💜🎹🥰
@thibomeurkens2296
2 жыл бұрын
She respects all the qualities the instrument has 😂
This is my nearly 3-year old daughter's favorite video on KZread at the moment. Now she keeps asking for "Coffee in D minor, again?"
@andrewchenpiano
9 жыл бұрын
I find it surprising and unusual for kids that age to enjoy this type of music.
@BryanHo
9 жыл бұрын
I think it's a tribute to Prokofiev that his music is both highly innovative and accessible.
@jean-pierremurrli3072
9 жыл бұрын
Andrew Chen Why? Their perception is not yet spoiled by commercial "acoustic pollution" :)
@jerometaylor4243
8 жыл бұрын
+Bryan Ho I think that's so cool for your daughter to appreciate what she is hearing! What a way to start off!! Bravo!!!
@georgescancan7503
8 жыл бұрын
+jerome taylor Bravo, bravo! " fantastic! " "fantastic!" Yuja! Yuja! : Sex in advertising From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Sex in advertising or "sex sells" is the use of sex appeal in advertising to help sell a particular product or service. Sexually appealing imagery may or may not pertain to the product or service in question. Examples of sexually appealing imagery include nudity, pin-up girls, and muscular men. The use of sex in advertising can be highly overt or extremely subtle. It ranges from relatively explicit displays of sexual acts, to the use of basic cosmetics to enhance attractive features." ALEXANDER BOOT Author, critic, polemicist Blogs > Alexander's blog > Sex sells - all of us short Submitted by Alexander on 24 June 2013 - 12:59pm The other day I listened to something or other on KZread, and a link to Chopin’s Fourth Ballade performed by the Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili came up. The link was accompanied by a close-up publicity photo of the musician: sloe bedroom eyes, sensual semi-open lips suggesting a delight that’s still illegal in Alabama, naked shoulders hinting at the similarly nude rest of her body regrettably out of shot… Let me see where my wife is… Good, she isn’t looking over my shoulder, so I can admit to you that the picture got me excited in ways one doesn’t normally associate with Chopin’s Fourth Ballade or for that matter any other classical composition this side of Wagner or perhaps Ravel’s Bolero. Searching for a more traditional musical rapture I clicked on the actual clip and alas found it anticlimactic, as it were. Khatia’s playing, though competent, is as undeniably so-what as her voluptuous figure undeniably isn’t. (Yes, I know the photograph I mentioned doesn’t show much of her figure apart from the luscious shoulders but, the prurient side of my nature piqued, I did a bit of a web crawl.) Just for the hell of it I looked at the publicity shots of other currently active female musicians, such as Yuja Wang, Joanna MacGregor, Nicola Bendetti, Alison Balsom (nicknamed ‘crumpet with a trumpet’, her promos more often suggest ‘a strumpet with a trumpet’ instead), Anne-Sophie Mutter and a few others. They didn’t disappoint the Peeping Tom lurking under my aging surface. Just about all the photographs showed the ladies in various stages of undress, in bed, lying in suggestive poses on top of the piano, playing in frocks (if any) open to the coccyx in the back and/or to the navel up front. This is one thing these musicians have in common. The other is that none of them is all that good at her day job and some, such as Wang, are truly awful. Yet this doesn’t really matter either to them or to the public or, most important, to those who form the public tastes by writing about music and musicians. Thus, for example, a tabloid pundit expressing his heartfelt regret that Nicola Benedetti “won’t be posing for the lads’ mags anytime soon. Pity, because she looks fit as a fiddle…” Geddit? She’s a violinist, which is to say fiddler - well, you do get it. “But Nicola doesn’t always take the bonniest photo,” continues the writer, “she’s beaky in pics sometimes, which is weird because in the flesh she’s an absolute knock-out. “The classical musician is wearing skinny jeans which show off her long legs. She’s also busty with a washboard flat tummy, tottering around 5ft 10in in her Dune platform wedges.” How well does she play the violin though? No one cares. Not even critics writing for our broadsheets, who don’t mind talking about musicians in terms normally reserved for pole dancers. Thus for instance runs a review of a piano recital at Queen Elizabeth Hall, one of London’s top concert venues: “She is the most photogenic of players: young, pretty, bare-footed; and, with her long dark hair and exquisite strapless dress of dazzling white, not only seemed to imply that sexuality itself can make you a profound musician, but was a perfect visual complement to the sleek monochrome of a concert grand... [but] there’s more to her than meets the eye.” The male reader is clearly expected to get a stiffie trying to imagine what that might be. To help his imagination along, the piece is accompanied by a photo of the young lady in question reclining on her instrument in a pre-coital position with an unmistakable ‘come and get it’ expression on her face. The ‘monochrome’ piano is actually bright-red, a colour usually found not in concert halls but in dens of iniquity. Nowhere does the review mention the fact obvious to anyone with any taste for musical performance: the girl is so bad that she should indeed be playing in a brothel, rather than on the concert platform. Can you, in the wildest flight of fancy, imagine a reviewer talking in such terms about sublime women artists of the past, such as Myra Hess, Maria Yudina, Maria Grinberg, Clara Haskil, Marcelle Meyer, Marguerite Long, Kathleen Ferrier? Can you see any of them allowing themselves to be photographed in the style of “lads’ mags”? I can’t, which raises the inevitable question: what exactly has changed in the last say 70 years? The short answer is, just about everything. Concert organisers and impresarios, who used to be in the business because they loved music first and wanted to make a living second, now care about nothing but money. Critics, who used to have discernment and taste, now have nothing but greed and lust for popularity. The public… well, don’t get me started on that. The circle is vicious: because tasteless ignoramuses use every available medium to build up musical nonentities, nonentities is all we get. And because the musical nonentities have no artistic qualities to write about, the writing nonentities have to concentrate on the more jutting attractions, using a vocabulary typically found in “lads’ mags”. The adage “sex sells” used to be applied first to B-movies, then to B-novels, and now to real music. From “sex sells” it’s but a short distance to “only sex sells”. This distance has already been travelled - and we are all being sold short.
She isn't real... No human being can be so perfect playing the piano. A bless that means dedication, devotion, practice and music adoration.
@sven-sandershestakov3294
7 жыл бұрын
Andre Maia A bless that means being born with prodigious talent, being born with strong and flexible tendons, ligaments and fingers, and... yes, then dedication.
@mckavitt
7 жыл бұрын
Sven-Sander Shestakov You both mean a blessing, I believe.
@donjohnson3701
Жыл бұрын
She is able to memorize a vast amount of music....an incredible feat in itself. She is truly amazing.....
I sit and stare at the notes of this piece on paper, it is like looking at insanity. Then I hear Ms. Wang play and feel inspiration once again. Piano is life, and Wang is her angel!
At the end, "My fingers are killing me!" What an otherworldly talent. Also love her Berlin Philharmonic (encore) performance. Just astounding. Love Yuja.
I've been waiting a long time to hear/see her play Prokofiev's toccata. She even brings out certain voices from the lower register that often escape me while listening to other recordings. Glad I'm living in a time to witness this remarkable musician!
@Anthony-qn8ox
4 жыл бұрын
She did this at Carnegie in Feb '20. When she finished the whole section let out a collective "Whoa". Just amazing. As Yuja would say, I need more of this nourishment.
@thibomeurkens2296
2 жыл бұрын
I listened to her recording and that of Martha Argerich, they are so insanely different which is weird because it’s the same piece.
The microphone placement on this recording seems extraordinarily good to me. What a superb and crystal clear recording!
i like her outfit as girl! so nice hair and handcloves!!
Brilliant editing, beautifully shot, amazing audio, incredible performance... Great work! Loved it.
@georgescancan7503
6 жыл бұрын
Strip club pianist! The method of achieving good results with the help of a naked body is called "prostitution"!
@rahang4126
6 жыл бұрын
Seems you've never seen naked bodies ! !
@georgescancan7503
6 жыл бұрын
Hi RAHAN G! Stormy Daniels is the best!
@mariodisarli1022
6 жыл бұрын
284.976! Incredible! This vulgarity attracts evetyone, like shit attracts flies!
@user-el6lr9ql8e
6 жыл бұрын
WGBH Music ーショパンワルツ嬰ハ短調
WOW!! She's terrific. She so fast and accurate. Wonderful.
Stunning! What a privilege to hear her play!
When you grow up with a piano as a favorite “Toy”. The piano is you, and you are the piano. All the great composers and writers are your soulmates. Then you become a master at last. 😃
Yuja never ceases to amaze me and having just discovered her few months ago, I can't get enough of her talent. She has me even loving Prokofiev who is not my favorite. She's amazing and I appreciate her enjoyment in and desire to just share her talent with public anyway she can.
@mariapap8962
Жыл бұрын
I feel the same way about her Prokofiev interpretations.
Personally I loved her performance. Is a lot about getting different lines out of the music. Is very rarely that i have heard Prokofief being performed musically and without hitting the piano. Many would say that this is not the way Prokofiev is suppossed to be performed, but I think that we should be open to perform his music in other ways than "what he meant" because that makes us experience both the composer and the piece in another level.
Stunning - both visually and aurally!
4th time in a row watching this. Can't stop.
Still watching this in October 2020! Amazing!
Physical and fashion beauty aside, one can only marvel at the depth of her intellect and athleticism. Her performances, several of which I have witnessed, are equally demanding and significant in the hard work and depth of interpretation resulting.
Yuja, you are so talented, brilliant and amazing! Bravo!!
If only I could like this a million times!!!
@michaelschefold3299
8 жыл бұрын
I also!!!
@georgescancan7503
8 жыл бұрын
+Michael Schefold also!!!! GIDON KREMER "Briefe an eine junge Pianistin", Braumüller (German, France). ..." ,,Wir leben in einer Welt des Glamours. Glamours verlangt, das alles sich ihm unterwirft. Er gibt die Normen vor. Was würdigt ist, im Rampenlicht zu stehen, auf wen die Strahlen des Ruhmes fallen, bestimmt er. Das Glamourgesetz verlangt vor allem BRILLANZ. Die Hauptfiguren des Spektakels, oder anders ausgedrückt: die Waren, die auf diesem Basar feilgeboten werden, sind verplichtet, auf Covers, Plakaten, Zeitschriften, in Talkshows, auf Präsentationen oder in Interviews zu glänzen. Der Glamour braucht das IMAGE des ERFOLGS, das lässt sich leichter verkaufen als das Image des Leidens. Und das Lächeln gehört dazu. Können Sie sich Bruckner mit Star-Lächeln vorstellen?...Glamour fabriziert Stars, er gibt die Parameter des Erfolges vor, Treulosigkeit verzeiht er nicht. Diese Starfabrik operiert mit allen Verkaufstechniken wie Bestsellerlisten, Preisen, Exklusivrechten, Werbung, von der Foto-Session,der Stilisierung a la irgendwas, bis hin zur Intensität des Make-ups. Das wurde von den Großmeistern der Kommerzwelt sorgfältig getestet, und sie setzen es mit holywoodschem oder bollywoodschem Elan in Szene. Was der Künstler und seine Firma ,,absetzen" wollen, muss unbedingt gut verpackt sein. Man muss wissen , wie man die ,,Ware" anbietet. ...Nackte Schulter- ab und zu sogar etwas mehr- junge Damen passen zu jedem Instrument. Ein Wolf oder ein Schwan verstärken die Wirkung. Hauptsache, etwas fällt auf! Geht es um die Musik? Die Interpretation? ich befürchte, beides ist eher nebensächlich. Wenn man meint, Beethoven nicht ,,a la Lang Lang" verkaufen zu können, so verkauft man eben, sieh Cover, Lang Lang ,,a la Beethoven". Nach Glamour besteht Nachfrage. Er dringt in alles ein. Auch in die Musik. Handel und Händler regieren die Welt nicht schlechter, vielleicht sogar besser als Politiker ..."
@billbag3
6 жыл бұрын
who are the 56 haters that gave this a thumbs down, they must be very angry with life.
Love this. What a spectacular performance!
Love the piano frames in the backdrop. This, is what you will be and the sounds you'll emanate when we're done with you.
Wonderful, Yuija ! What an energy ! I love. Superb ...
This is my favorite outfit of hers!!!
One of the best solo piano videos I have seen- maybe the best considering the original concept of setting, and Yuja's superb playing - brilliant showcase of her major artistic flair and outstanding musicianship!
Still watching this in 2020.
I love what she did with that fabulous Prokofiev piece!!! :-)
So raw ! Such a delight! So pure and perfect music. Thanks for sharing this.
@practicaltheology
9 жыл бұрын
Wow! - thanks for sharing Halvard
Fantastic musician!!! I loved the setting too!
Wow...just wow! I’m watching this first thing in the morning and I don’t think I need a cup of coffee now!
little did i realize where this would take me i had no idea of her talents and for that introduction i owe you all at NPR bigtime
I've heard this piece played by others but none brings out a smile and an enthrallment as Yuja's version.
Bravo! Those flying fingers with deadly accuracy.
This piece is quite factory, machine like anyway, so having it played into the factory where they make the pianos is quite brilliant. As usual, Yuja plays like a champion.
This video deserves more than 300K views
The talent in this century !Great !
Such a fashion sense! Just gorgeous
Words fail me here. Wow!!! Everything.
The gold standard interpretation of this piece
count one note is a day of her life practicing? how much hard work, love, passion, discipline, drive, depression, hope, faith had been put into this excellent performance that is behind scenes and no one knows! Great performance, God bless. "And love it also because you a Chinse girl. "
How weird not to hear thunderous applause after one of her recitals... I think she expected it as well. LOVE you Yuja.
I like this toccata very much! I still remember I find the piece hard to understand before I studied composition and trained my ear around 5 years ago, but now it gives me goose bump.
@dextertay461
2 жыл бұрын
It's amazing to compose with such dissonances while maintaining that unique, inimitable style and voice. Which is why Prokofiev's up there together with the other 20th century greats!
Brilliant interpretation, by a greatest artist! I wonder how many (thousands of) parts this amazing musical instrument contains. Thanks to Steinway & Sons!!
In a KZread interview, she said that, "In growing up, my father musician was always after me about (the importance of ) keeping (strict) time." It shows.
Esta chica es un fenómeno de nuestra época!
Very expressive, and great interpretation.
Great Prokofiev...... and outfit.
Just fantastic... and what a piano!
Glad to be alive with her..
She's slayin it!!!! How i wish i could play the piano like her
@ikechukwuanumudu5816
3 жыл бұрын
4 - 7 hours of practice daily...; you'd get there
I love her version of the ending best
Beautiful !! OMG !!
I can't believe she can pedal in those heels o.0
@michaelschefold3299
8 жыл бұрын
and how she can! listen and see her Scriabin playing. This is the most difficult pedal in all music. She does it perfectly - with sexy high heels! Wow!
@tonyeclau
4 жыл бұрын
In one of her interviews, Yuja actually said she's more comfortable playing with her high heels on.
@thibomeurkens2296
2 жыл бұрын
I can’t even do it why wearing my shoe.. (okay I can but it’s terrible)
@dextertay461
2 жыл бұрын
You can say she trademarked it. Maybe she will write a book about it someday...
Sweet mother of God that was insane, she is incredible
Incredible. Not quite as dark an interpretation as some others, but her technique is fascinating.
@Anthony-qn8ox
4 жыл бұрын
I also like Argerich's version. Darker for sure.
@dextertay461
2 жыл бұрын
@@Anthony-qn8ox And definitely more full-bloodied and sonorous.
I'm trying to learn this, because it looks like a lot of fun. Now, if only I could play the piano...
@sven-sandershestakov3294
7 жыл бұрын
Buffoon1980 It's fun to practice it. It's not fun to perform it - that is the stuff of nightmares.
@thibomeurkens2296
2 жыл бұрын
Hehe fancy meeting you here 😂
@DodderingOldMan
2 жыл бұрын
@@thibomeurkens2296 Ha, yeah, hi! This was actually the first performance of this piece I ever saw and that made me want to learn it, and in fact it was Yuja Wang's performance of Prokofiev's second piano concerto that made me realise I absolutely loved Prokofiev in general.
@thibomeurkens2296
2 жыл бұрын
@@DodderingOldMan The second concerto is so good! (also really hard probably 😂). And you’re right Prokofiev is great. The first piece I knew of him is actually this toccata (it’s still my favorite!) but then I went down a whole Prokofiev rabbithole he has so much great stuff!!
@thibomeurkens2296
2 жыл бұрын
@@DodderingOldMan okay I have a lot more spreekrecht for you now I’m trying the piece and there where the hands cross in the beginning is so hard I’m playing it really slowly and my brain still can’t handle it 😂
Oh my gosh. I know nothing about piano but that was amazing and captivating.
3:11 and 4:12 sound so beautifully crisp and grand. That's why I love Steinway Pianos
Beautiful!
Fabulosa partitura y fabulosa pianista
OMG You are So Amazing 👍 Such an Inspiration for Me and My Students 👏
Marvelous!
I hate the fact that some critics aren't yet able to look pass her heels, dresses, and race... hopefully she will release more studio works. Especially playing many Rachmaninoff... she plays his so beautifully.. viva Wang.
If you liked watching the building the piano, there is a whole documentary about the making of a Steinway. It's called "Note by Note" and it's great.
She is a miracle! 🤩
I cant imagine writing or playing this. Children of a greater God.
사랑스러 ㅠㅠ 마지막 표정!!!!
Maravilloso, me parece increíble tanta perfección en la interpretación. 😍😍😍
She practically owns this piece!
@dextertay461
2 жыл бұрын
The marketing is just quite the icing on the cake...
Marvelous performance.
Fabulous!!!
Yuja sei semplicemente fantastica!!!!!!
Phenomenal!
These peaces killing me :-)
masterful
Exhilarating to watch!
Speechless !
Awesome!!
I still have fond memories on this piece. It's very challenging to perform.
woooow!!! super!!! Yuja!!!!
Wow!...just wow!
Cherry 🍒 on the cake, it seems that all other pianos in the room are vibrating in echo to this astonishing performance
Play like a boss :D
2:13 I personally think that it was Prokofiev that originally came up with the idea of "dropping the bass"
@slateflash
8 жыл бұрын
+John Ruediger I think the real bass drop is at 3:09 with the a-flat minor chord
@johnruediger9752
8 жыл бұрын
+slateflash either way, love this song, and if you've ever looked at the ink on this song (which I assume you have), one would realize that there is no better piece to say that there is more black on the page than white XD
Espectacular presentación es admirable
Good & funny ;-) S.Prokofiev in Steinway factory...cool idea!
Awesome!
This is a brain wake upper...Love It #YujaWang
bravo!
just the best!
Ohhhhhh my goshhh wujaa
HERMOSA!!!!!
Yuja..number 1
Loved the lipstick hack😂. Brilliant!
Indeed you have to get acquainted with Yuja's staccato approach, and from 1:40 till 2:00 she fumbles up a bit. I have repeated this interpretation several times and now I am convinced this is the best interpretation I ever heard, even better than of Argerich. I just listened to the interpretation of Prokofiev himself and on that terrible dual tone hard touch piano it sounded not well but you can still hear what he meant to play, and I think Yuja Wang has interpreted this piece exactly as Prokofiev meant it.
@michaelschefold3299
8 жыл бұрын
I think the same. Prokofiev would be happy to hear AND see her!
@642forlife
8 жыл бұрын
Yes, Of course Prokofiev would love this. Yuja Wang is his perfect Ambassador.
@matthewquan1529
7 жыл бұрын
perfect Ambassador, well say.
@frutiboy1
6 жыл бұрын
Yuja's interpretaion is honest = fast but still clear, free of any artificial substances.
@ThePmfan
5 жыл бұрын
Also it's freezing cold. Teeny mistakes are understandable.
would love to hear her on a bosendorfer!
Which does she put, the finger-less groves or the arm warmers? what an amazing piano play.
Whaaaaouuu incroyable bravo👏👏👏
perfect!
@rolandoreyes3144
9 жыл бұрын
I heard from the grapevine that Yuja Wang is leaving her Opus3 agent, Earl G.Blackburn, to join London-based Fidelio Artists as its first instrumentalist. Fidelio have young conductors of Gustavo Dudamel, Lionel Bringuier & Esa-Peka Salonen. These 3 are LA Phil's prominent conductors whom JW has recently worked with at the Hollywood Bowl. Remember YW's short orange/yellow dress that went viral? Guess who the conductor was? Right, the 27 year old Lionel. Gustavo & Yuja just released their Rach album. And, guess who the conductor was when Yuja first played Shostakovich at the Bowl? Right again. Esa-Peka. She dumping the old for the young? Watch out! Welcome to Hollywood, Yuja! Now, you'll get a better chance to produce DVDs instead of CDs. CD's are still good, but they are from the last century. The 21st demands DVDs. It is a visual century. And your fans who can't see you perform live, are craving to see you in a visual medium. They want to see your fingers fly over the keyboard. They want to see you singing and being playful while stroking the keys. They want to see, do I dare mention, your attire. You are a fashionista, and where can you better trot your sense of fashion than here in Hollywood. Go for it, girl!
@michaelschefold3299
8 жыл бұрын
+Rolando Reyes YES!!!!!!
@michaelschefold3299
8 жыл бұрын
+Rolando Reyes YES!!!!!!
Ela é demais!!!