This.
The thing is, none of us here know YW personally, so you canât say she is shallow and vacuous. Iâ ve always had the impression that her personality in interviews and what she presents publicly is just part of who she really is, and the deep, sensitive side, which was obvious to me in the concert hall, is kept hidden. Most of you havenât even heard her live. I can say that of the 100+ recitals Iâve heard of the most famous pianists in the world over the past 5 years, her playing of the slow movement of the Schubert sonata 959 made the biggest impression on me.
Letâs reverse the question: will your playing be shallow, superficial if you are well-read, soul-searching, eloquent, vividly intelligent, thoughtful, profound?
The answer is: tiz possible but tiz not very likely.
I agree that Yujaâs playing is somewhat shallow, but in the best possible way. Like Gieseking, her playing is technically astonishing, yet interpretively lightweight (IMO). In particular, her strict adherence to the score reminds me of Richter, who never exaggerated a rubato in his life. Trifonov, on the other hand, makes me cringe in nearly every rec with his forced mannerisms.
In other words, she just plays whatâs on the fucking page.
To me, there is no âgood wayâ to play shallowly, because the word âshallowâ in relation to interpretation is by definition a negative thing.
If anything, the opposite is true for me when talking about Geese-king. But perhaps you mean his earliest recordings?
There are thousands of pianists dead and alive who only played strictly whatâs on da fucking page yet their interpretations can still be profoundly different. Thank God for that!
Listening to Yuja in the Beethoven 1,2. I think canuck on to something I hadnât thought about. Its the same things I like about Rubyâs Mozart. Rather than what does this scale mean in the scheme of humanity and great art, and how can I best appear to communicate that perhaps the more accurate thinking is maybe a B flat major scale is just that and in the right proportion to other elements presented perfectly magical on the whole. She can do this balanced element playing that is way rarer than her other qualities. Hope she leans into that skillset.
Well, I find that even something like understanding all da harmonies, voice leading n even knowing da singah phrasing (in song trannies fo instance) dun necessarily guide interp more den how it sounds acoustically - away from da score even, in da long run
Da well-informed interp pozz juz a starting point
Dere are many interesting elements in da Chop zurkaz fo instance, like a BAZZ line, which dun have to be made into da foreground - they exist as a compositional tech dat da cumpoozah used
In addition to being attractive she is very very charming. Naturally charming. So itâs possible in interviews people donât notice or donât mind that she has nothing to say. Itâs just part of the human makeup to have that cloud judgement (hi Boris Johnson).
this is true for me but I also havenât heard any of the Russian greats (aside from Sokolov) or pretty much anyone else. Weâll each have our own reaction but things get clouded when someoneâs both attractive and charming. Itâs just the way it is. Herman from rmcr described her playing well, about how she sounds the same in different composers and styles, and has these modes she falls into (weepy in Chopin & Schumann, for example).
Tru, juz lyk da DOC except u aint a fan ov hiz azz
I value da fact dat we can hear many interpretationz ov workz and among dem I love da fact we haf neutral interpretationz who juz play wutz in da zcore and ezchew any deliberate intervention ov perzonal touchez and mannerizmz
Dependz on da attitude when goin into liztenin - do I want to juz hear da piece - or do I want to hear da pianizt unfettered n free to do zumzheeyat different n perzonal wiz it.
Ov courze diz can verge into diztorted terrain - which iz dangerouz n hit n mizz but zumtymz rewarding.
Top 3 peniztz - Ziff Ho Friedrice - all cummah thro wiz a balance - U can hear tiz dem immediately wiz deir inimitable perzonal approachez to dynamicz, agogicz, rhythm, rubato, tone etc. - but all at da zervice ov makin da muzik mo wikid.
An interpretah iz lyk a kid wiz a colourin in book - u can be happy if da kid juz keepz it zimple n colourz in faithfull to da written text, n u can be pizzed off if da kid uzez bold inzane colourz juz to be quirky, but da moz gifted kid iz da one hu uzez imagination to bring forth gensui touchez ov hiz own to da black n whyt outline. Not diztortin da original image, not bein plain n predicktable - but findin a unique way to bring out da gensui full colour potential ov wut wuz dere in black n whyt.
I understand, and Iâm not really trying to change anyoneâs viewpoint, but for me that first time I heard her live was the greatest shock Iâve experienced in the concert hall. I was not a fan before that and I was not favourably predisposed towards her. I actually donât find her that charming; she usually comes across as far too flippant for my taste. These days Iâm all about Vorotnaya when it comes to feminine charms amongst pianists.