Pianist Yuja Wang on the challenge of chamber music, and how to fit into her dress after two weeks of Hong Kong food
Pianist known for her striking attire shrugs off criticism of her fashion choices and prefers to talk about music – her love of chamber repertoire, trying out conducting – and how she chills out between engagements
Sitting at a piano in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Yuja Wang is in her element. Not only is she in a concert hall where she has performed with renowned conductors and orchestras, but also a tight little black number and a pair of Christian Louboutin stilettos that ooze confidence and sexiness – part of her public persona.
The Beijing-born, New York-based pianist is in Hong Kong for a two-week residency which teams her once again with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and its music director, Jaap van Zweden, for a total of five concerts.
Having already dazzled audiences with her performances of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, which opened the orchestra’s new season last weekend, Wang will be performing a concert of chamber music with three of the ensemble’s players – violinist and concertmaster Jing Wang, violist Andrew Ling and cellist Richard Bamping – on Wednesday.
Review: Yuja Wang/HKPhil – Chinese pianist dazzles in Tchaikovsky, Jaap van Zweden steers transcendent Stravinsky
On the programme are Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, and Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, both among Wang’s favourite chamber music pieces.
“It’s two of the most passionate chamber music pieces and also very challenging for piano. I tend to choose those – the ones that are almost like a piano solo,” says the 30-year-old.
“Oh my god,” she exclaimed earlier during a rehearsal as she tackled a particularly difficult passage in the piano trio, and breathed a sigh of relief at the end.
“I love Tchaikovsky’s music. It’s very simple, direct, but it really goes to the heart,” says Wang.