Superstar Pianist Yuja Wang ('08) Performs Rachmaninoff Marathon with The Philadelphia Orchestra

One of the world’s most celebrated pianists, Curtis alumna Yuja Wang (’08), is garnering praise and making splashy headlines once again for what The New York Times calls “one of the most herculean concerts of her career: a three-and-a-half-hour marathon of Rachmaninoff’s four piano concertos and “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” at Carnegie Hall on Saturday (January 28, 2023), a virtually unheard-of undertaking.” The reviews have been spectacular. 

In addition to this monumentally challenging endeavor, Ms. Wang kicked off her ode to the music of the beloved Russian-American composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor’s 150th birthday on Thursday, January 26, with a two-part concert split across four dates at Verizon Hall with The Philadelphia Orchestra, under the baton of internationally renowned conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. These rare, once-in-a-lifetime performances, which feature over 400 pages of technically virtuosic, richly rewarding music, have been proclaimed the must-see events of the year.

Ms. Wang’s highly-anticipated performances are notable for the fact that few pianists have ever played Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos 1-4 plus the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in one series or setting. In order to pull off this feat she has maintained a disciplined schedule of rest and practice, saying, “I’m also having the same feeling as everyone else: Let’s see where this kamikaze run is going to go. I can’t even control it, so I’m just going to go with the flow.” Hot off her show-stopping turns here on the East Coast, she will join the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel in February for more performances of these Rachmaninoff showpieces.

Yuja Wang enrolled at Curtis at 15, and by age 21 had already established an extraordinary international career and began recording for Deutsche Grammophon. Of her return to Philadelphia, where she spent time growing in her craft as a musician at Curtis, she says in The Philadelphia Inquirer, “It’s like going home, just as it is when I go back to Beijing. I love Rittenhouse Square. I love playing for Meng-Chieh Liu [Curtis’s Sondra F. Matesky Chair in Piano Studies]. He’s amazing to play for. Very imaginative. And hilarious. I exact inspiration from where I am.”

Read Ms. Wang’s interviews with David Patrick Stearns in The Philadelphia Inquirer HERE, Javier C. Hernández’s piece in The New York Times HERE, and Zachary Woolfe’s glowing review in The New York Times HERE. 

Yuja Wang and The Philadelphia Orchestra perform the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto Nos. 1 and 2 on Feb. 4, and Concerto Nos. 3 and 4 on Feb. 5, in Verizon Hall, Broad and Spruce Streets. The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini appears at both concerts. Tickets are $55 to $249. philorch.org, 215-893-1999.

Photo credits: 1.) Norbert Kniat  2.) Kirk Edwards  3.) Norbert Kniat.