Yuja Wang & Vikingur Ólafsson / Piano Recital
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
It would be hard to imagine a more contrasting pair: On the one hand, Víkingur Ólafsson – a rather introverted artist, reserved in demeanour, richly nuanced in his playing. On the other, Yuja Wang, whose demeanour is almost as spectacular as her sensational pianistic skills. What they both have in common: They are unimpressed by the opinions of others. And they are damn good. In this ProArte concert, the Chinese power woman and the Icelandic sound conjuror now unleash a veritable firework display of pianism. The backbone of their concert is formed by Franz Schubert’s F-minor Fantasy and Sergei Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances (originally: Fantastic Dances) – late works by the two composers that are almost like a life review. With short works by contemporary composers such as John Adams and Arvo Pärt, Wang and Ólafsson embed these two major works in an appealing new musical context.