Rachmaninov (2011)

With the vast plenitude of recordings of Sergey Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, one has to wonder why Yuja Wang and Claudio Abbado chose these blockbusters for her first album with an orchestra. There are many possible reasons, including the composer's instant name recognition, the performers' preference for the music, and the obvious potential for Wang's career advancement. But the most apparent one is that the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is the right ensemble to ... Read More

With the vast plenitude of recordings of Sergey Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, one has to wonder why Yuja Wang and Claudio Abbado chose these blockbusters for her first album with an orchestra. There are many possible reasons, including the composer's instant name recognition, the performers' preference for the music, and the obvious potential for Wang's career advancement. But the most apparent one is that the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is the right ensemble to accompany her in these pieces, and the combination is surprisingly good. In the concerto, Wang's delicate and refined playing might have been obscured by Rachmaninov's thick mid-range scoring, and a large orchestra would have made recording her extremely difficult, if not utterly pointless. But Wang is perfectly audible with scaled-down forces, so the concerto works brilliantly in this case. The Rhapsody is a more skillfully wrought composition, and it offers more transparent orchestral... Read Less