Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.3 / Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.2

Young Chinese virtuoso Yuja Wang plays two of the most demanding of all piano concertos in one concert, joining an orchestra and conductor of similar age.

The first recording with a soloist for the Simon Bolívar Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel captures the extraordinary energy levels of a very special evening in Caracas.

This very special concert celebrated the 38th anniversary of the founding of Venezuelas unique music-education system, El Sistema.

Yuja Wang describes the performances with the Venezuelans as, a little explosive but controlled and very communicative.

The two Russian piano concertos on the album were written just three years apart though they present very different perspectives, with Rachmaninov celebrating the tradition of the 19th Century and Prokofiev facing forward into the 20th.

Rachmaninovs hugely popular Piano Concerto No.3 is his longest, most ambitious and most technically complex work for piano and orchestra. Yuja Wangs international performances of the concerto have already garnered great critical acclaim. Here she connects with the orchestra and conductor, as Gustavo Dudamel says, as if were playing chamber music.

Prokofievs Piano Concerto No.2 is phenomenally emotional and intense music that also presents huge technical challenges for the soloist - particularly in the long and ferociously complex first movement cadenza.