All who know her and have seen her perform agree that Tianwa Yang, the prodigious young violinist of Beijing origin, knows her way around a Prokofiev concerto. When Hong Kong-based music critic and historian, Oliver Chou heard her performance of the composer’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, he raved that in her hands the piece was like “a mature craft from a sophisticated master, rather than the work of a mere 21-year-old.” Yang will have the opportunity to deliver Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in stellar fashion at Strathmore on Saturday with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra led by world-renowned conductor, Maestro Herbig Guenther.
“I worked with her in Detroit and I was very intrigued by her,” Guenther said. “The Prokofiev is very challenging, but she is a player who is absolutely up to the task.”
This is welcome praise, indeed, for the prodigy, who started playing violin at the age of 4 under the strict supervision of her father.
| IF YOU GO |
| Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 |
| » Where: The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| » When: 8 p.m. Saturday |
| » Info: $28 to $88; 301-581-5100; strathmore.org. Note: Program is also presented at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. Call 410-783-8000 or visit bsomusic.org for information. |
“He made sure I practiced every day,” the now 23-year-old said in a recent interview for Naxos.com. “He was right to do that; otherwise I would not have achieved what I have.”
And what she possesses, among childhood awards and dazzling debuts world over, is the benefit of the great Isaac Stern’s tutelage here in the United States.
Little wonder, then, that Yang is prepared to dazzle Strathmore audiences with Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Written in 1917 while exiled in Siberia, the piece’s delicacy and lyricism reflects the serenity of the setting in which it was composed.
“Prokofiev’s lyrical First Violin Concerto will sing in the skillful hands of Ms. Yang,” said Matt Spivey, BSO director of artistic operations, said. “Her intensely emotional style coupled with infallible technique has made her an audience favorite in China for years. American audiences only recently started to discover this young talent. We are delighted to host her in Baltimore at the cusp of what I expect will be an exciting career.”
Also on the program, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 speaks to the history of the time in which it was written, just months after Joseph Stalin’s death and echoes, as Herbig points out, “the relief, the final hope that the Russian people had after this time of terror and suppression.”
Ravel’s light-hearted “Mother Goose Suite” opens the program in whimsical, upbeat fashion.
