“We find pianiste extraordinaire, Xiayin Wang, ablaze inside Gershwin’s electrified Concerto in F… Wang deftly maneuvers through each of Gershwin’s stylized movements by showing nothing but the utmost control as to the vibe and sassy distinctions wrapped inside the exhilarating score. Ms. Wang’s keyboard vocabulary enriches while, simultaneously, tackles the dizzying folds in cogent formation.”
More
“Wang vividly brought out all of the gentleness, grief and exuberance that Mozart packed into this exquisite concerto. And she blended beautifully with the Minnesota Orchestra, which sometimes can put too much Beethoven into its Mozart and overpower soloists. Rarely did Wang fight to be heard, Mena helping bring a becomingly light touch to the music.”
More
“Xiayin Wang is jaw-droppingly impressive. She makes music out of even the most jagged phrases, and the BBC Philharmonic outclass all of the recorded competition in both finesse and commitment. I’d always thought of this work as inferior to the more popular First Concerto; this recording has made me seriously reconsider that opinion.”
More
“Xiayin Wang’s elegant and sonorous performance of the Second Piano Concerto (1972) will be a surprise for anyone who associates the composer with pianistic bombast. Her crisp, even touch in both the perpetual motion, repeated-note scherzo and the prestissimo triplet finale is remarkable, yet so is her balance of complex chords and gradual pacing in the tread-like build of the slow movement to a crisis point. e first movement is the most dissonant and complex. Succeeding movements are more accessible; textures and sounds fascinate throughout.”
More
“[Xiayin Wang] and Juanjo Mena are entirely on the same page when it comes to bringing this music to life.”
More
“Soloist Xiayin Wang embeds herself firmly in the orchestral texture but, unlike in the Copland concerto, the piano remains a fully distinctive, individual element too with its own voice that debates, even contends with the orchestra. After the appassionato of the opening movement, the second movement canzone begins with…”
More