Yuja makes her highly anticipated return to Switzerland’s Verbier Festival with three performances this summer. On July 25 she is joined by baritone Matthias Goerne and narrator Caroline de Bon at the serene Eglise de Verbier, with a programme featuring Brahms’ Die Schöne Magelone, Op.33. Ms. Wang presents a spectacular recital evening at the Salle des Combins on July 27, with Brahms’ Ballades Op. 10, Nos. 1 & 2; Schumann’s Kreisleriana, Op. 16, “Phantasien für das Pianoforte”; and Beethoven’s epic Piano Sonata No. 29, “Hammerklavier.“ This is also the thrilling programme of works she presented at Carnegie Hall, (watch via Medici.tv) and in a critically acclaimed recital in California which was heralded by Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times: “Her “Hammerklavier” is unlike any other I’ve encountered . . . Her sense of rhythm is so strong and sure that it gives her permission to explore without losing her bearing. She handles the sonata’s opening left-hand lunge, such a fraught exercise for Perahia and other mortals, as a balletic liftoff.”
Yuja also reunites with violinist Leonidas Kavakos at Verbier this summer, joined by violinist Roman Simovic, violist Blythe Teh Engstroem, cellist Gautier Capuçon, and clarinetist Martin Fröst, on July 30 at the Salle des Combins. This not-to-be-missed performance includes Bartók’s Contrastes for clarinet, violin and piano, Sz. 111; Brahms’ Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8; and Schumann’s Piano Quintet, Op. 44.
Ms. Wang completes her summer festival tour with her debut at the Salzburg Festival in two performances. She and Mr. Goerne again perform Brahms’ Die Schöne Magelone, Op. 33 on August 9 at the Stiftung Mozarteum, with narrator Ulrich Matthes. On August 12 she, Lionel Bringuier, and the Camerata Salzburg present a concert which includes Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The event takes place at the historic Haus für Mozart, and will also receive a television broadcast via 3sat on August 20.