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Yuja Wang is experimenting - no, not about outfits.

www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/arts/music/yuja-wang-carnegie.html

First world problem, not knowing the order of pieces Almost a tragedy in itself.

Really, this counts as experimenting? Have non of these expert critics ever seen a progrsm with like "Music by...."?

A program in which the order of the pieces is not announced may affect different listeners differently.

To those who are not "in the know," knowing or not knowing the composer and name of the work may not make any difference; they are just there to hear - not necessarily listen to - the music.

Those who are "musicians," real or vicarious, may feel manipulated if there are works on the program they haven't heard and therefor don't know, but would really be interested in pursuing the music or the composer further. Yes, of course, they can do their YouTube research later, but I think that some would be more engaged with the music if they knew the source while listening. It may be too fine a line to draw, however.

The more adventuresome among them may enjoy "playing the game" along with Ms. Wang.

I think I can see both sides of this question as I have occasionally left a recital wondering what an encore was and not being able to find out. In Ms. Wang's recent experiments, at least the numbers on the program are there.

Regards,

It seems like the program was communicated, just the order changed. For people who have some knowledge it is pretty easy to spot Bach vs Brahms vs Chopin. And even though i dont like Berg and would be incapable to recognize one of his piece in a blind test, i can still identify his work vs Scriabine. Unhapilly for those that are less knowlegeable, a concert is also an opportunity to familiarize oneself with composers. Not knowing what piece is being played is reallly unpleasant.

That said why stop half way ? She should not communicate any program at all, that way it would be an even greater experience !

The reviewer said Wang said she wanted to play the pieces in the order she felt like. Wang did not say she did that because it would allow the audience to not be prejudiced positively or negatively by knowing the composer. That seemed to be the reviewer's idea only.

This was an unusual experiment but not something I'd like to experience vs. a typical recital even though I would usually be able to know which piece was being played given a list of pieces on the recital. Aren't most recital programs carefully planned so the order of the program has some meaning?

I attended Yuja's last recital here in SoCal at Segerstrom. The pieces were listed, but the audience was forewarned ahead that Yuja would play them in whatever order she felt like. After a few bars of each piece, I was able to deduce which piece it was, and as the recital progressed, by process of elimination, guessed the remainder of her program. It did not take away from the concert experience at all, actually it enhanced it as she put together a mood set with some, with direct segues from Brahms to Chopin for example. Granted this worked because they were short pieces, not any extended works.

There is often more frustration afterwards when encores are played (as in Trifonov's case earlier that month). Only after talking with him after the recital, did he list his encores (they were all pieces written by sons of J.S. Bach). An artist may mention his encore from the stage, but often it is inaudible, and only the first few rows get to know what the piece is. Unless you know the piece yourself, you basically guess or end up asking your neighbor, who oftentimes are just as clueless.

In the past couple of years, I've taken it one step further: If the performer doesn't identify the encore (or it's inaudible), I'll send an email inquiry to the concert sponsor. So far, I've always received an answer.

I love the idea of hearing pieces and not knowing the composer beforehand. It would eliminate a lot of bias. It's like a blind taste test. However, I would like to know, afterwards, what each piece was.

I do have to comment that only in the somewhat stuffy realm of classical music would a performer playing tunes in the order she felt like at the moment be a big deal. Jazz, bluegrass, folk, pop, country, etc.; if a piece is played and the performer doesn't announce ahead of time what it is, people just listen and enjoy!

I dont think it is very important, but there is a difference. In pop or jazz, one comes to listen to the music of the performer on stage. The order just affects the songs. In classical, you are listening to the music composed by someone else. For people that have some knowledge of classical music, recognizing the composer out of a predefined list is pretty easy. For those that have less aquaintance, it is better if they know what they are listening to. It is more difficult to remember after the concert and have to map back titles to the music. Also some pieces have multiple mouvements, so it requires a bit of work to put it all back together.

Anyway, changing the order seems more like a convenience for Ms. Wang as i dont see what difference it makes for the audience to listen to piece A before or after piece B. If there is a logic to play one after the other then i guess there is no reason to change it. And if there is no logic then it does not matter. Seems more like another gimmick. If a pianist thinks that people have biases and that prevents them from enjoying the present moment, then one should not publish any program at all.... i guess that would be really interesting to go to a concert not knowing at all what you will listen to.

She did the same thing in San Fran several weeks ago. After the intermission, she came back and played the same two pieces she had just played. I have no problem with this...but she's getting top dollar. Anyway the Scriabin was great!

Imagine going on stage as a jazz pianist in front of a crowd and not having any idea what you will be playing for a large portion of the concert haha..well we are trained for that but it's still a bitch)