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Yuja Wang: Pianist in Two Worlds VR
11 Sep
Summary
- Virtual reality installation features pianist Yuja Wang performing music.
- Audiences wear VR headsets to experience immersive, dreamlike worlds.
- The installation has previously been shown in multiple international cities.
The Southbank Centre in London is now hosting "Playing With Fire," an innovative virtual reality installation that allows audiences to experience pianist Yuja Wang performing in multiple dimensions simultaneously. This unique production immerses viewers in nine distinct, luminous dreamworlds crafted to complement pieces by composers such as Ravel, Debussy, Stravinsky, Bach, Liszt, and Prokofiev.
Users don VR headsets to witness Wang's avatar emerge and perform, with the music visually manifesting as fantastical environments. For instance, Ravel's Jeux d'Eau conjures underwater scenes, while Stravinsky's Danse Infernale depicts a blazing bird and lava creatures. The experience, a collaboration between Wang, director Pierre-Alain Giraud, and artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir, has already captivated audiences in Cannes, Paris, and Shanghai.
"Playing With Fire" offers a journey through varied sonic and visual landscapes, including icy realms for Bach and an inferno for Liszt. A particularly intense segment features Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No 7, depicting burning villages and drones, designed to be unsettling. While the immersive nature can be overwhelming, those seeking a less intense experience can opt for seats at the edge or stand nearer the physical piano to diminish the virtual overlay.
Concluding the experience, attendees remove their headsets to witness Chopin's C sharp minor waltz performed on a physical piano, a return to tangible reality after the preceding digital spectacle. This installation provides a powerful, albeit occasionally disorienting, exploration of music and virtual technology, running in London until the new year.
