This is a terrible disc. It is impossible on evidence here to say that Xiayin Wang has any noticeable affinity for this music. Her tone is thin, and she tends to pick at the notes rather than accenting them. The finale of the Barber concerto, for example, suffers from a mechanical sense of rhythm and a flat dynamic range at too slow a tempo. It is one of the least exciting on disc. You can hear the same issue at the start of the Copland concerto’s second movement. The composer’s own recording (with Bernstein) shows how it ought to be done: spiky, etched in steel, but with depth to the tone.
The Gershwin is worse still. What on earth is going on with Peter Oundjian and the RSNO? They sound completely bored, to the point where the percussionist mistimes the very first cymbal crash in the piece (and it’s only five notes in–well, six here). As for Wang, she drifts through her opening solo as if on Percocet. I give her full credit for her swift attack on the finale, but as with the other works, the performance is so lacking in sheer heft that monotony quickly ensues.
Wang appears to be staking out her personal territory in American repertoire–she has a disc of Earl Wild piano music to her credit as well–but with reference recordings of all of this music readily available by the likes of Wild himself (Gershwin), John Browning and Szell (Barber), and the aforementioned Copland/Bernstein, there is simply no excuse for a disc that sounds like a low-voltage reading rehearsal. Even the engineering lacks the typical fullness and clarity we are used to from Chandos in this venue. Wang’s previous recordings have been generally well received here, but this one’s a dud.