Yuja Wang’s second recording combines classics of the piano
repertoire with some less frequently heard works. The major
works, Stravinsky’s Three movements from Petrushka and
Brahms’ Paganini Variations, are each followed by a Scarlatti
sonata. La Valse finishes the disc with a flourish. The
fact that the Stravinsky and Ravel pieces were written and intended,
respectively, for the Ballet Russe gives a pleasing symmetry
to the program. The disc is titled ‘Transformation’, something
Wang finds in the thematic changes wrought by Brahms and Ravel,
and in Petrushka’s journey from puppet to human and back. This
is an adventurous and well planned recital with plenty of scope
to show off a young pianist’s versatility and technique.
Technique is certainly called for in the Petrushka work,
and as expected Wang is equal to its demands. The pounding rhythms
of the Danse russe, characteristic of Stravinsky’s ballet
scores, are strongly dispatched. The contrasting episodes of
La semaine grasse give her a chance to show off her bell-like
touch in its melodic passages. However her choice of a Hamburg
Steinway gives this performance a mellow, almost orchestral
tonal range that is lacking in some of the more percussive accounts
of this work. Idil Biret’s analog recording is a touch slower,
but the Turkish pianist manages to infuse her performance with
a more theatrical feel, and her steady pacing gives her performance
more slow-burn dramatic tension.
After the fireworks of Petrushka, the first of the Scarlatti
sonatas sounds at first a little plain, with much less tonal
and dynamic variety than Emil Gilels brought to these miniature
marvels. No attempt is made to vary Wang’s chaste approach by
way of ornamentation, even in the repeats. However their place
in the program is, as Wang says, as “a little bit of sunshine
between the big dark works, a relief for the ear”. In this way
they act as a palate freshener between the main courses.
Brahms’ Variations on a theme by Paganini constitutes
a meal in itself. The variations, on the familiar Caprice no.
24, were written as a challenge to the Polish pianist Carl Tausig.
Yuja Wang is certainly up to the task right from the crisp articulation
of the theme onwards. Extended trills sparkle, successive octaves
are cleanly delineated, and the arpeggio variations keep a grip
on the illusion of spontaneity. Wang’s rhythms sound unhurried;
a tempo is set for each piece, and observed without either excessive
rubato or rigidity. Dynamic contrasts are carefully brought
out and each variation is sharply characterised. This Paganini
Variations never sounds like a series of piano studies.
Yuja Wang plays the variations in the order adopted by Arturo
Benedetti Michelangeli. Book 1 is played through from Variations
1-12, with numbers 12 and 13 held over. In Book 2, nos. 9 and
14 are omitted and nos. 3 and 4 are placed at the end. Variations
12 and 13 from Book 1 conclude the performance. Whether one
agrees with this re-ordering or not, it is characteristic of
her thoughtful approach. Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s 1994 performance,
by contrast, plays the variations in the order in which they
appear in the score. This “straight” approach is consistent
with the classical restraint of his performance, but means that
he misses the chance to end with the first book’s powerful concluding
variations. He is overall more distant, lacking the drama Yuja
Wang brings to the work. This quality is even more evident in
La Valse, which moves from the glitter of the Viennese
waltz to the despair and chromatic dissolution of the final
bars.
Guy Aron
see also review by Bob Briggs
Yuja Wang (piano) 
