Young Chinese virtuoso performs Olivier Messiaen’s symphony for the first time

World Today

She is considered one of the world’s most talented and exciting classical pianists. And she has just played a concert in Venezuela, for free.

The young Chinese virtuoso, Yuja Wang, was performing with the Simon Bolivar orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, as CCTV’s Stephen Gibbs filed this report from Caracas.

More details:

  • Turangalila, by the French composer Olivier Messiaen, is a notoriously complicated piece. It is being performed for the first time by the young Chinese star, Yuja Wang.
  • The orchestra is entirely composed of graduates from Venezuela’s El Sistema, which is a publicly funded project founded in the 1970’s. It introduces children, often from deprived backgrounds to the world of classical music. The concerts would have been a sell out, apart from the fact that, as this is Venezuela, all the tickets are free.