Star pianist Yuja Wang is preparing for a new challenge with the Philadelphia Orchestra, writes Javier C. Hernández for The New York Times.

Wang will do what is virtually unheard-of by playing all four of Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos and his “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” in a single concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

And while she is excited about the herculean undertaking, she is also a bit anxious about the rushed rehearsals and the mammoth program.

“I have no idea what the hell I’m doing,” she said. “I’m also having the same feeling as everyone else: Let’s see where this kamikaze run is going to go.”

Wang has built her career on dazzling displays of virtuosity, but taking on over 400 pages of music in one go, including some of the hardest piano passages in the repertory, will be challenging even for her.

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who will be leading the Carnegie concert, compared the effort to climbing Mount Everest.

“It’s insane for everyone,” he said. “It’s possible only when people know each other so well. And that’s the case between Yuja and me and this orchestra.”

Read more about Yuja Wang in The New York Times.

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The Impossible Virtuosity of Yuja Wang