Pianist Offers Gershwin with Haydn, Chopin
by Mike Tchappat, Daily Record (05/08/09)
Pianist Xiayin Wang is determined to explore all of music's possibilities, from the intricacies of the baroque world to the thorniest of contemporary pieces.
Her recital tonight at Drew University's Dorothy Young Center in Madison indicates the expanse of her interest. Haydn is on the program. So is Scriabin. And Liszt, Chopin, Ravel, Gershwin and Piazzolla. The concert will encompass the rigors of sonata form and the smoldering passion of the tango.
This night of music is presented by the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, benefiting its extensive education programs.
"Everything has variety, has colors," said Wang, whose name is pronounced Shy-een Wong. "And I think that it's very important for the audience to hear maybe every single side of me a little bit. I love doing that and I always try to make the program as colorful as possible."
Haydn's Sonata No. 52 in E-flat major opens the recital. Following are Chopin's Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Scriabin's Waltz, Op. 38 in A-Flat Major, Piazzolla's "Adios Nonino" (Tango Rhapsody), Gershwin's Prelude No. 1 and "I've Got Rhythm" as well as Earl Wild's Gershwin transcriptions, "Embraceable You" and "The Man I Love." Wrapping up the evening will be Liszt's "Mephisto Waltz No. 1" and Ravel's "Scarbo" from "Gaspard de la Nuit."
Wang believes it is perfectly natural for Gershwin to share a program with Haydn and Chopin.
"After sushi you take a cup of tea," she said. "It's sort of like that for an audience, refreshing your ears. ... And to me too, for my fingers, for my own mind, it's very good to mix in there."
Wang said she is attracted to Russian composers, particularly Scriabin, who is less well known than giants such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
The short-lived Scriabin gradually lost his grip on reality, ending his days writing a massive work that would include sound, light and perfume, and be performed at the base of the Himalaya Mountains. He said it would introduce the apocalypse with the world dissolving in bliss.
"His mind totally becomes a very interesting person," Wang said of Scriabin's growing megalomania. "It comes through his music very, very clearly. ... It's just amazing how he actually expressed that into the notes, into the keyboard. You can hear fire, you can hear thunder, you can hear lots of things in the music. And that's what I like."
Wang has recorded a CD of Scriabin's music, due out this month on the Naxos label.
"It covers from Op. 1, his very early stage, to Op. 74, his last piano composition," she said. "So you can see the changes in his life."
Wang is living very much in the present as well. Her playing caught the attention of acclaimed composer Richard Danielpour, and she will perform the world premiere of his "The Enchanted Garden," Preludes II on May 18 at New York's Alice Tully Hall. She also will introduce to the world Sean Hickey's "Cursive."
"He is an amazing, amazing artist," Wang said of Danielpour. "He would tell me stories of every single prelude, how he composed it, what inspired him. Really, really helpful. ... It's going to be a very, very big hit."
Wang studied at Shanghai University and won three piano competitions in China before coming to the United States in 1997. She continued her studies at the Manhattan School of Music and won the school's Eisenberg Concerto Competition in 2002, as well as the Roy M. Rubinstein Award.
Wang is also an accomplished chamber collaborator, performing with the Amity Players. They have recorded Brahms' Piano Quartets, Op. 25 and 60 for the Marquis Classics label. A future recording for Naxos will feature chamber music by Schumann.