SOUNDTRACK: YUJA WANG-“Toccata in D minor, Op. 11” (Field Recordings, February 19, 2014).
I have never given much thought to the physical creation of a piano. This Field Recording [On A Chilly Factory Floor, Yuja Wang’s Piano Sizzles] is set on the factory floor of Steinway & Sons. As it opens you can see the craftsmen putting some touches on a piano, which really makes you think about how these machines are created.
This episode also introduced me to Chinese-born pianist Yuja Wang.
She is a [at the time] “27-year-old ultra-glam artist” who came to the factory in
one of her trademark dresses, significant stiletto booties and a Gucci fur stole, as well as some wrist warmers as a concession to the temperature.
The piece she played was also one I was unfamiliar with, played a piece that would chop shrinking violets to mulch: Prokofiev’s “Toccata in D minor, Op. 11.”
The blurb calls the piece “blisteringly difficult” and I totally agree. It is nonstop notes for nearly five minutes. Wang is up and down the keyboard, banging out notes in a nearly atonal piece (how she even remembered it much less played it is amazing). And to see her pressing pedals in stilettos is pretty amusing too.
On a third listen, it’s not so much atonal as just very busy. The melody is in there, it is just surrounded by so much else. And watching the blurs that are Wang’s hands is jaw-dropping.
[READ: January 6, 2017] “Cold Little Bird”
I feel like Ben Marcus stories resist me, somewhat. But this one was fantastic.
Martin and Rachel have two boys: a ten-year old-and a six-year-old. As the story opens, Jonah, the ten-year-old says he doesn’t want to big hugged anymore. That he doesn’t like it. He hopes that they will respect his decision about this. He tells them that they can always cuddle with Lester, the six-year-old.
The parents shrug this off and think it is a phase. Even when Jonah flatly says “I don’t love you.”
His parents tried to respect his wishes even as it went on for several weeks. Martin was getting more and more exasperated, but Rachel seemed to be okay with it–telling him to back off and give the boy some space.
Soon enough, Jonah started playing with Lester–being very chummy and lovely with him. And yet he did not warm up to his parents. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 