Tianwa Yang, a Chinese prodigy who tossed off the Paganini Caprices at the age of 13, has done well to focus on the compositions of 19th-century Spanish virtuoso Pablo Sarasate instead of delivering yet another Mendelssohn or Tchaikovsky concerto. A veteran in her early twenties, she shows no sign of burning out, treating the listener to both technical mastery and melodic flair in works that are in many cases little known. The present album, the third in her series of Sarasate works for violin and piano, lacks for nothing ...
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Tianwa Yang, a Chinese prodigy who tossed off the Paganini Caprices at the age of 13, has done well to focus on the compositions of 19th-century Spanish virtuoso Pablo Sarasate instead of delivering yet another Mendelssohn or Tchaikovsky concerto. A veteran in her early twenties, she shows no sign of burning out, treating the listener to both technical mastery and melodic flair in works that are in many cases little known. The present album, the third in her series of Sarasate works for violin and piano, lacks for nothing in the technical display department. Hear the insanely high notes and varied bird effects in Los pájaros de Chile (The Birds of Chile), a work only recently unearthed and published, where Yang shows no signs of strain. There are harmonics, double and triple stops, and crowd-pleasing leaps galore. But she excels equally in works that do not rely merely (or exclusively) on display. The Rêverie, Op. 4 (track 6), is the sort of work that can draw unconvincing by-the-note performances from...
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