San Francisco Symphony / Yuja Wang / Esa-Pekka Salonen

Composed into the fingers

Playing this highly virtuosic work, Yuja Wang feels as though she is climbing the Great Wall of China while relishing in the views of her breathtaking natural surroundings. Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos, the Chinese-born classical pianist confesses, are the most sensual and equally most passionate musical works of all for her. The immense technical difficulties that Rachmaninoff, an outstanding pianist in his own right, composed into his works make the perfect playground for Yuja Wang. The colossal masses of sound are just made for the explosive volcano that lies dormant inside her. Do not be deceived by her delicate appearance: Her playing is powerfully gripping and full of feeling – as if Rachmaninoff had envisioned precisely this exceptional musician when he composed his »Elephant Concerto«.