The Berlin Recital – Yuja Wang

   in Piano International (Mar, 2019)
At 31, Yuja Wang is reaping the promise of keyboard talent displayed in earlier years. In this intelligent, sensibly compiled programme, works by György Ligeti are a triumph, perhaps no surprise to Yujaphiles familiar with the pianist’s affi nities with this composer, included on her debut CD a decade ago. Ligeti’s Étude No 3 ‘Touches bloquées’ captures the cosmic reach of the Hungarian master, evoking unstoppable noises of the universe. One feels that Ligeti himself would have revelled in this performance. Étude No 9 ‘Vertige’ likewise conveys cyclic nature through rainfall-like effects, in what might otherwise be mistaken for an intellectual exercise in modernist expression, akin to the works of the …