The Next Yo-Yo Ma

Ok, so maybe her instrument's a little smaller. And her name's not quite as catchy (in fact, I'm convinced that's why the likes of Yo-Yo Ma and Lady Gaga do so well internationally - their secret: names a 2-year-old can say.). But still, violinist Tianwa Yang is electrifying classical music with her fierce virtuosity (she recorded the famed Paganini Caprices at a record-breaking 13 years old) and soul-piercing sound.

Just listen to this:

I don't care how little you know about classical music, if you can't discern the alarmingly robust talent this girl possesses, you don't have a soul. (And if your main criteria for impressive playing is seeing fingers fly, slide to 3:30 in the video and let 'er rip.) Her tone is remarkably pure, her transitions flawless, and she performs with a raw, thick musicality that liberates Sarasate's Caprice from its grainy Youku video so it can assault our ears like a sensual volley of musical arrows.

The Beijing-born, German-trained Yang caught up with us before her performance this Saturday evening:

You've accomplished so much already. What's your next big goal?

I'm not the kind of person who sets up a big aim and tries to achieve it. I'm just enjoying the process of it all. You know, just get out every day and have my aim for the day, and that's a journey in itself. There are still loads of repertoire I haven't played and haven't discovered. And also, I love to do recordings, so I hope one day I'll be able to do a lot of recordings of all these great repertoires.

So what would you like to record next?

I'm going to record the complete Ysaye Solo Sonatas, which I'm really excited about. Otherwise, I'm quite into romantic repertoire, so I hope one day I'll be able to record the Brahm's Concerto, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven ...

How did you develop your voice as a violinist?

I think every person's just different and of course, I have my own way of speaking the music, my own color I'm searching for, this kind of sound. There are so many variations in speaking and in the phrases. But I think on the other hand, I never think too much about trying to find my own style, I mean it should in a way just come naturally. I just read the music and try to just let it through. i wouldn't do too much to put my own trademark on it. I think that would be real messy.

How'd you get started? Did your parents pull a Tiger mom on you?

Oh, it was just coincidence. At that age, kids in China are just...you know that was just kind of the fashion that small kids would play instruments, and that's how I began, because all the other kids of my parents' friends were all playing instruments, so I got a violin in my hands. And i just continued, and then I never stopped, and that's how I came to today. It was very easy. My parents are not musicians, and they never set up an aim to say "Well, we want our daughter to be a great musician!" It just started with fun, and it continued, and just got to today.

It's great to hear about someone starting young, and really appreciating this for the opportunity it is, and enjoying it.

Yes, I'm absolutely a lucky kid, I know it. I got the right instrument, loved it, and I started really early, so I'm really a lucky kid.

So are your parents proud of you?

Well, maybe. I've never asked them!

You should ask them!

Ok, I will! [Laughs]

What venues do you dream of playing in?

Um, not really venues, but all those great orchestras, I'd love to one day play with them. That's what I dream of. Those great orchestras like Chicago of course, or the Berliner Phil, Vienna Phil. All those great orchestras with really good traditions, I would love to play with them someday. Doesn't matter where. I'm sure it would be a great venue, they only play in great venues.

What's your typical day like?

Well, if I'm not having a reshearsal. I just get up, practice in the morning. And probably go for a walk, maybe after lunch. And stuff like emailing, or writing, or all this paperwork that I have to do, I'll just do that in the afternoon. And then maybe before dinner, just practice again for a little bit, and that's it, for a day, if there's no rehearsal or concert.

That sounds very manageable, we're always hearing horror stories about 12-hour practice days.

No no, that's not with me. I probably practice up to four hours, usually.

That's amazing, that you can maintain that level of virtuosity...

Well, I did practice very much when I was younger.

So, what kinds of music do you enjoy listening to?

Actually I don't really listen to music very much. You know, my job has to do with sound and music, so when I practice, I'm also listening to music. And that's four hours a day. I actually really enjoy silence. I don't have a television at home. I will listen to the radio. I love to hear people talking, but I don't really like to hear much music. But of course sometimes I love to listen a little bit, to chamber music and symphonic and also some folk songs like the King's Singers. But very rarely, actually.

How's it been living abroad since such a young age?

Um, I don't really feel like I'm living abroad. I'm just so used to Germany, so used to Europe. To be very honest, sometimes the first day when I get back to China, I feel like I'm daft here. I've been living in Germany for 7 or 8 years, so I don't feel like a foreigner there.

When in Europe, what are the things you miss about China, and when in China, what do you miss about Germany?

Well when I'm in Germany, I miss Chinese food. And the other way around ... ? I think i miss the exactness. In Germany, people are so exact about time, about, if a bus is coming, it must be at this exact time. For everything, you have to make an appointment, and people just do exactly what they write in their calendars, in their diary. And i miss that when I come here, because everything here ... well, it will happen, but you just have to wait. And that's something I'm not really used to anymore. And of course Germany's the other extreme.

Have your parents visited you?

No, it's impossible for them to get 2 or 3 weeks holiday just to come see me.

Is that hard, that there's this whole other life you've experience and your parents are still living the same life in Beijing?

It's very difficult, actually. Because I'm so used to the European life, it's hard when the parents you love so much - and who you want to be still close to, and still want to communicate with - when it's sometimes not possible anymore because you just think differently, you behave differently, and sometimes it can lead to problems in the family. I see how the longer I'm staying abroad, the more problematic this will be, and ... yes, it's difficult.

Have they watched you perform?

Yes. They like it, very much. [Laughs.]

I've always wanted to ask a world-class musician this, but it's hard to find one I'm not intimidated by: when you listen to your own recordings, are you as amazed by it as your other listeners? Or is it hard to do that when it's your own playing?

Um, when I listen to my recordings I think the things that pop into my mind most are, "Oh i would do that differently now." Sometimes there are one or two phrases where I'm like, "Wow that was really good, I don't know if I could do that again." There are these kinds of magical moments. But, I think at least for me, when I listen to my own recordings, I'm just prepared to be critical rather than to enjoy it. I don't think I can, because that's just part of my profession, that as long as I'm listening to something, I have to criticize it. And of course I'm still enjoying some parts, but I would say I'm more awake to those moments I could do better than to the moments that I think are beautiful.

That's quite a sacrifice: these recordings that other people are enjoying so much, you can't enjoy!

Yes, but I enjoy it when I'm playing.

Touche. I guess you win on that one.

So what kind of relationship do you find yourself having with a composer whose work you're playing?

When I'm reading a score ... it's very difficult to describe it. You can discover so much just written within the music. You mentioned Brahms; he hides so much into his music. This mere accent, or this mere harmony change, can mean so much, but it's those small details that you want to tease out and put them together to let the piece speak on its own. And I have to feel that I'm telling it ... it's like I take it inside of me and then I'm letting it out again, as if it's what I'm about to speak. So it's almost like I'm stealing the composer's words! It's just like reading a book, and you tell it aloud. Or it's almost like being an actor: you live within the world and then carry it through your mouth and through your language and your words. You tell it.

What are you looking forward to in your performance this Saturday?

We're performing Lalo's "Symphonie Espagnole." I love this piece very much. I'm having a big affinity for Spain, having done all these recordings of Spanish repertoire. It's typical Spanish folk melodies but written in a very cultivated way. I look very forward to playing Spanish music in Beijing, since I feel like quite at home with Spanish music. And I've never played with the china philharmonic before, so I look forward to playing with them. Some of my friends will be playing in the orchestra, so I very look forward to playing with them.

Tianwa yang performs with the China Philharmonic at the Forbidden City Concert Hall tonight. RMB 50 - 680. 7.30pm. For more information click here.