Yuja Wang

Ja, natürlich, dann sagen wir Schluss, jetzt reicht's, basta.

Ich habe das Gefühl, du bist zu weit weg, wenn sie spielt.

Du hast das Gesicht?

Ja gut, wenn du das Gesicht hast, ist gut.

So, wenn ihr beiden... Du kannst ja schon laufen lassen.

So, we are ready. So, you start to play something from your new CD?

Stopp. Jetzt fangen wir an, oder wie? Excuse me.

Hast du diese Bilder, oder? Ja. Wenn sie guckt, gehst du aber auch mal groß ran,

Not long?

No.

Please explain our audience: What are you playing in this moment?

That was Scriabin, one of the preludes, my favorite preludes. Why your favorite?

What is so beautiful?

It's really evoking lots of memories and perfumes, smells. And every time I play something, some different smells come up. Colors, yeah. And it's one of the very small pieces on my CD. I have lots of tracks, so that's on the very intimate side of it.

What is the most difficult track of your CD?

They're all difficult in its own way, I just discovered. I play lots of concerts, but in the recording studio it's very tense because they're looking like a microscope. So, technically, I guess there's the „Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka“.

Playing this is technically a risk also?

It's risk, and it's good, you know, after a big concerto I play. It's an at-the-moment thing when I play an encore, and it's just show-off. But in the recording studio, it's a little clinical.

And where exactly is the danger when you play this?

Well, basically everywhere. But it's a fun album. You know, it's just lots of jumps I have to, and also, it's actually each take I have a different character, and it's hard to choose which one I like. It's like choosing, and I choose like different pianos, but they're all gorgeous, or choose shoes, you know, it's hard to choose.

But it's a very big range between, like, something like „Danse macabre“.

It's very nasty and it's like... And rhythm also.

What?

Rhythm.

Yeah, the rhythm very driven and very... something from the hell, you know, like with fire. It's like a festive thing, but in a very dark and nasty way. So, yeah, it's emotion ranging from really dark, something like Scriabin... or like Rachmaninoff.

I can't play. Don't do that. I can't be more passionate than this kind of piece. And there's Élégie.

And there's lots of, each piece is a little miniature of mood, and also has a development of stories going, like „The Sorcerer's Apprentice“, or one of the Rachmaninoff études, the Wolf and the Red Hood. So there are very vivid images.

And you think the story playing this?

It helps, yeah.

And Rachmaninoff, when you play Rachmaninoff, and your teacher was, came from the Russian school, did he influence you with the Russian school, your teacher?

Yeah, I mean, basically influenced me with everything I play.

What means, for your audience, what means Russian school?

I guess beautiful sound, very intensive, intense emotions. I never really analyze it, I just think.

And technically?

Oh, they're perfect.

And you are perfect, but you have, is it thinkable that you have technical problems?

Yeah, well, for recording, yes.

For your recording. But at home or now in this situation?

Yeah, I think it's always have to strive for, not more perfection, but more demands, you know. If I want something, I can create something right there. And that always needs improvement. And certainly it's not the perfection I'm looking for in the studio. What's hard is the psychological struggle, because I'm okay when I'm just playing, you know, but when the red light is on and, you know, I'll be there immortally. It's just like a little bit baggage and pressure.

And also, it doesn't really have the excitement from the audience, you know, when I play an encore. It's like, some of the pieces are like the encore pieces, you know, like the polka or „Danse macabre“, but, and there's the big chunks of Russian music which I love to play in concerts.

Your CD is a CD, you said it, of short tracks. What is attractive playing short tracks?

Well, I like playing, my first two CDs are all very big, monstrous pieces, so the structure really has to be there. But the short ones, it's really like a temporary, ephemeral, kind of elusive thing, you know. You either get it, that's the thing with recording, you either capture that or it's nothing, it's nothing special. So, just that little special magical thing, and it happens very short, you know, good things doesn't happen for a long time, so I think, and also it has so many different facets about human emotions and colors, life, experience, everything that good about being alive and being a human is captured there.

It's fun to play, and I certainly feel very human when I record it, because it's nothing like, nothing near perfection.

How do you decide after the concert you have to play this little extra? How do you decide? What do you prefer?

Well, it depends on what comes before. It's really a momentary inspiration thing. I know the crowd loves fast and loud, so... I don't know, it depends on the mood. Sometimes I play...

It's a way to say goodbye to the audience. So perhaps you want to offer an emotional thing?

Yeah, well, usually after a concerto it's very showy and bombastic and I want to show something more intimate, more personal, you know, something just for me. And yeah, I guess it could be a goodbye or like a dedication to say thank you to be here, or something that I can offer, I don't know, some experience that is beautiful for me and I hope to share with you.

Is Chopin one of your personal favorites?

Yes, definitely. Can you play something? Well, the only thing, I've played this since when I was seven, this waltz.

For me, Chopin is just a genius. And when that thing comes,

it just really melts the heart. I don't know, something about him is very... It's like something from the god.

Critics call you flying finger. Is it a compliment?

I don't really think my fingers are flying.

They're flying in all different directions. Do you like this compliment?

It could be a compliment, it could be an insult, I think.

Do you have special fingers?

I hope they're grounded. I hope they don't fly so much, because for me, the piano is like an extension of my body, and it speaks for me. So, for me, the more important thing is this relationship with this instrument.

Do you have special fingers?

No. Well, they're very skinny, and they're double-jointed. See, like it goes the other way, but it doesn't help.

You have to be very careful with your fingers.

Yeah.

There are things what you're not allowed to do?

Well, yeah, I can't play. I love tennis. I love watching tennis. I love Roger Federer, but I can't play tennis because it's not just the fingers, it's the arm. We have to be strong but not stressed out by sports. so I definitely don't do tennis or even ping-pong, it's dangerous, and I can't ski, because my coordination is just eye and hands, like I can't really do a lot of sports. Oh, bicycle, yeah, that's fine. I bicycle a lot when I was in China.

You go by bicycle in New York?

No, subways or taxi. Okay.

Yes, beautiful. So, we have to change a little bit the camera. Okay.

Please explain our audience: What are you playing in this moment?

That was Scriabin, one of the preludes, my favorite preludes. Why your favorite?

What is so beautiful?

It's really evoking lots of memories and perfumes, smells.

every time I play something, some different smells come up. Colors, yeah. And it's one of the very small pieces on my CD. I have lots of tracks, so that's on the very intimate side of it.

What is the most difficult track of your CD?

They're all difficult in its own way, I just discovered. I play lots of concerts, but in the recording studio it's very tense because they're looking like a microscope. microscope tip, microscope pic. So, technically, I guess there's the „Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka“.

Playing this is technically a risk also?

It's risk, and it's good, you know, after a big concerto I play. It's an at-the-moment thing when I play an encore and it's just show-off, but in the recording studio it's a little clinical.

And where exactly is the danger when you play this?

Well, basically everywhere. But it's a fun album.

You know, it's just lots of jumps I have to, and also, it's actually, each take I have a different character, and it's hard to choose which one I like. It's like choosing, and I choose, like, different pianos, but they're all gorgeous, or choose shoes, you know, it's hard to choose. But it's a very big range between, like, something like Danse macabre.

And rhythm also. What? Rhythm.

Yeah, the rhythm very, very driven and very... something from the hell, you know, with fire.

Es ist wie eine festliche Sache, aber in einer sehr dunklen und nassigen Weise. So, yeah, it's emotion ranging from really dark, something like Scriabin...

Or like Rachmaninoff.

I can't play. Don't do that. I

can't be more passionate than this kind of piece. And there's elegy.

And there's lots of, each piece is a little miniature of mood, and also has a development of stories going, like The Sorcerer's Apprentice, or one of the Rachmaninoff études, it's the Wolf and the Red Hood. So there's very vivid images.

And you think the story playing this?

It helps, yeah.

And Rachmaninoff, when you play Rachmaninoff, and your teacher came from the Russian school.

Yeah, yeah.

Did he influence you with the Russian school, your teacher?

Yeah, I mean, basically influenced me with everything I play.

What means for your audience, what means Russian school?

I guess beautiful sound, very intensive, intense emotions. I never really analyze it, I just think.

And technically?

Oh, they're perfect.

And you are perfect, but you have – is it thinkable that you have technical problems?

Yeah, well, for recording, yes.

For your recording. But at home or now in this situation?

Yeah. I think it's always just always have to strive for, not more perfection, but more demands, you know. If I want something, I can create something right there. And that always needs improvement. And certainly it's not the perfection I'm looking for in the studio. It's the... what's hard is the psychological struggle because I'm okay when I'm just playing, you know, but when the red light is on and, you know, I'll be there immortally, it's just like a little bit baggage and pressure.

And also it doesn't really have the excitement from the audience, you know, when I play in an encore. It's like, some of the pieces are like the encore pieces, you know, like the polka or Danse macabre, and there's the big chunks of Russian music, which I love to play in concerts.

Your CD is a CD, you said it, of short tracks. What is attractive playing short tracks?

I like playing, my first two CDs are all very big, monstrous pieces, so the structure really has to be there. But the short ones, it's just, it's really like a temporary, ephemeral, kind of elusive thing, you know. You either get it, that's the thing with recording, you either capture that or it's nothing, it's nothing special. So, just that little special magical thing, and it happens very short, you know, good things doesn't happen for a long time, so I think, and also it has so many different facets about human emotions and colors, life, experience, everything that good about being alive and being a human is captured there. And it's fun to play and I certainly feel very human when I record it because it's nothing like, nothing near perfection.

How do you decide after the concert you have to play this little extra? How do you decide? What do you prefer?

Well, it depends on what comes before. It's really a momentary inspiration thing. I know the crowd loves fast and loud, so... I don't know. It depends on the mood. Sometimes I play...

It's a way to say goodbye to the audience. So perhaps you want to offer an emotional thing?

Yeah, well, usually after a concerto it's very showy and bombastic, and I want to show something more intimate, more personal. So I just feel like... it's like an emotional, something just for me. And yeah, I guess it could be a goodbye or, like, a dedication to say thank you to be here, or something that I can offer. I don't know, some experience that is beautiful for me and I hope to share with you.

Is Chopin one of your personal favourites?

Yes, definitely.

Can you play something?

Well, the only thing, I've played this since when I was seven. This waltz. For

me, Chopin is just a genius. And when that thing comes, it just really melts the heart. I don't know, something about him is very... It's like something from the god.

Critics call you flying finger. Is it a compliment?

I don't really think my fingers are flying, they're

flying in all different directions. Do you like this compliment?

It could be a compliment, it could be an insult, I think. Because, yeah.

Do you have special fingers?

I hope they're grounded, you know, I feel, well, I hope they don't fly so much because for me the piano is like an extension of my body and it speaks for me and so for me the more important

This instrument, you know, yeah.

Do you have special fingers?

No. Well, they're very skinny and they're double jointed. See, like it goes the other way, but it doesn't help.

You have to be very careful with your fingers.

Yeah, yeah.

There are things what you're not allowed to do.

Well, yeah, I can play. I love tennis. I love watching tennis. I love Roger Federer. But I can't play tennis because it's not just the fingers, it's the arm. We have to be strong but not stressed out by sports. So I definitely don't do tennis or even ping pong. It's dangerous. And I can't ski because my coordination is just eye and hands. I can't really do lots of sports. Oh, bicycle, yeah, that's fine.

I bicycle a lot when I was in China.

You go by bicycle in New York?

No, subways or taxi.