About this Artist

• Biography

Editorial Reviews

Tianwa Yang, a Chinese violinist who was a mere 17 years old when this disc was recorded, shows prodigal talent in a recital of music by Pablo de Sarasate, one of the Victorian era's great violinists. (Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson take the afternoon off to go and hear him in The Red-Headed League.) Lacking recordings, we know the violinists of the nineteenth century partly by the music they wrote for themselves. In the music explored here, Sarasate stressed his Spanish heritage, evoking the flamenco and rural dance forms of Spain with considerable subtlety. He did not turn to sheer fireworks as often as Paganini did, but there are still plenty of them in evidence on this program, and Yang turns them into fire and smoke. Sample track 3, the "Malagueña, Op. 21/1," for an example of a difficult left-hand pizzicato passage executed with the kind of explosive snap that makes the audience sit up and quit rifling through the program notes. In matters of rhythm and articulation Yang is equally effective; each phrase is shaped distinctively, and she pushes forward against the beat without letting tempo rubato degenerate into mannerism. If there is one flaw at this point, it lies in the area of beauty of tone, but the over-bright sound of her violin may be partly a result of inadequate compensation for the effects of an empty and very live auditorium. Yang bears watching, that's for certain, and as for recordings of Sarasate, she's already very near the top of the heap. James Manheim, All Music Guide

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