Yuja Wang Releases ‘Ravel’
It was in July that pianist Yuja Wang dazzled Australian audiences with her performances, described as “dazzling…tender…(and) stylish” (Sydney Morning Herald).
She is now poised to release a new recording in Australia, entitled Ravel (available October 23, 2015) on the Deutsche Grammophon label, on which she performs with the celebrated Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich under young conductor Lionel Bringuier who was appointed Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Tonhalle in 2012 at the age of 26.
The CD features two of Maurice Ravel’s most popular jazzy and lyrical works for piano and orchestra: the Piano Concerto in G major which premiered in Paris in 1932, conducted by Ravel and the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major which also premiered in 1932, in Vienna. Ravel composed both concertos between 1929 and 1930. The latter was commissioned by the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm during World War I.
Yuja Wang was born in Beijing in 1987 and began her musical studies at the Beijing Conservatory. She moved to Canada in 1999, continuing her music studies, eventually enrolling at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she auditioned aged just 15.
She made her solo recital Carnegie Hall debut in 2011 and has worked with the best in the conducting world including Abbado, Barenboim, Dudamel, Dutoit, Gergiev, Maazel, Marriner, Mehta, Nézet-Séguin, Pappano, Salonen,Tilson Thomas and Zukerman in concert halls around the world. Her recordings have won numerous awards.
Click here to watch Yuja Wang in this preview of the Ravel album.
