Pianist Extraodinaire - Yuja Wang and the NSO

Of all the instruments that I play, I would say without a doubt that piano is my weakest. Even after taking a great class at USC last year for a whole semester, I can't play more than chords for the most part and it takes a me a long time to read piano music and sight read. With that in mind, I am always in awe of incredible pianists and I respect everything about the way they play. Yuja Wang was no exception! She has been playing since she was 6 years old and continues to impress today. She studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and Philadelphia. Since graduating, she has embarked on many tours over the past few years and has played with the New York, London, Hong Kong, and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras. She's considered to be one of the greatest young pianists around today.

I personally thought her performance was amazing. She played two classical pieces and then played one of my favorites, Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. The two things that stuck out to me was her temp changes and her fluidity. Both of these are incredibly hard to do on the piano (I would know) and her ability to connect notes while also playing with the entire NSO was a marvel. Sure she she could play fast notes but I think her best moments were when she was putting her own interpretations on the slower parts of the pieces. Thousands of people have played Rhapsody, but she was able to make it her own. I think everyone else at the show was impressed as well and it made for the easiest show this season. There was hardly anyone on the lawn and I was able to watch more of the show than I usually am. Once again, it was another hot day but it cooled off really fast and the night was beautiful.

The best part of the night for me was Rhapsody in Blue. While her playing was fantastic, nothing beats those clarinet notes in the beginning, music to my ears!

As always, looking forward to more shows in the future!

DC