Pianist Yuja Wang showcased the elegance of her art at the National Auditorium.

Omar González Morales

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, June 8, 2025, p. 4

Pianist Yuja Wang performed at the National Auditorium accompanied by the nearly fifty musicians who make up the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Her performance is known, yes, for its polish, but also for its elegance, precision, and generosity.

On Friday night, before a nearly full house at the Reforma Theatre, bathed in a veil of light, Wang broke the silence with the Coriolanus Overture. She stretched her hands over the Steinway & Sons, focused and unperturbed.

She appeared with simplicity, wearing a typical—and, for some, even controversial—short dress, this time black; she was exuberant, she seemed liberated. Her smile was broad and contagious, like the music with which she routinely fills the audience with emotion.

The Chinese artist performed Ludwig van Beethoven's piece and, as usual, ascended and descended rapidly through the notes and flats.

Meanwhile, the audience watched her in rapture, as if ascending and descending the same staircase created by the black and white keys with which she recreated her performance. The challenge facing Yuja Wang is no small feat: she is on her debut tour as a conductor, a role she combines with that of soloist, which has earned her some criticism because she is open to error.

Her youth is a testament to the talent that accompanies her. She has received numerous awards and accolades, yet she quickly demonstrated why.

The pianist then fluently performed Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21. With masterful technique, her fingers executed the allegro vivace. She was thrilling; the audience was still, calm, stunned, as if watching her soar with euphoria. The performance of the accompanying orchestra was no less spectacular.

The piece ended, and the audience's silence ended. As if they were roses, they stood and applauded her promptly; no wonder. They returned her generosity, because she held nothing back. Her concentration was absolute; she conducted from the piano, stood and coordinated, and with her arms manifested the musical waves.

The repertoire continued with Igor Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto in E-flat major. Behind Wang was the violin of German violinist José Maria Blumenschein, another renowned maestro.

Born to Brazilian parents but in Germany, his exceptional accompaniment during the concert and his conducting of two pieces before Wang's two entrances on stage earned him applause from the audience.

At the interval, however, the pianist was slow to return to the stage; the Auditorium staff had to take some time to constantly rearrange the orchestra's positions. Silence reclaimed the stage.

The delay displeased the audience, but all hints of anger vanished when the diva returned, wearing a new, elegant yellow dress, ready to play Stravinsky's piece with masterful precision.

In this performance, his liveliness and lightness stood out, interspersing his characteristic dizzying technique with moments of calm. He roamed the piano from beginning to end. The violins were his guardians.

The final piece, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23, began with a tinkling sound, with Yuja Wang displaying the solemnity she always brings to Tchaikovsky's pieces. She accelerated, moved forward, and played around. Blumenschein accompanied her.

At that moment, the song of two birds was heard in the auditorium, joining the concert, captivating the audience. It was as if they were responding to the musical call of the Chinese artist and her orchestra. Wang assumed her role as conductor: she stood up, moved her arms, and directed the flutes, clarinets, horns, trumpets, and other instruments that accompanied her.

She finished and the audience gave her a standing ovation; she generously returned to congratulate her orchestra. Unexpectedly, she sat back down at the piano and gave another quick demonstration of her great technical prowess by performing a shorter version of Arturo Márquez's Danzón No. 2. It was just her alone; her colleagues also enjoyed the show. Thus concluded her busy day.

They offered flowers to the protagonist and José María Blumenschein, who accepted them and then gave them to their colleagues. They shared in the success and the applause.

That's Yuja Wang. No matter how long we have to wait to hear her, she's a modern piano diva.