Press
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Ian Bostridge Is Still Going Deeper Into Winterreise
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"Wenwen Du, a long time collaborator of Bostridge’s, inhabited this role impeccably. [...] Du shaped the phrases with enough propulsion to keep momentum while preserving a sense of trepidation — a perilous balance to strike but executed flawlessly. And at the end of “Das Wirtshaus: (The inn), Du brought the pianissimo hymn of the introduction up to a spectacular forte, a bold choice not indicated in the score but which gloriously captured the protagonist’s fatalistic commitment at that moment..."
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Ian Bostridge Brings Schubert’s D. 911 to SFP
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"[T]hroughout the entire cycle, both Bostridge and Du were on the same rhetorical page… It would be fair to say that Bostridge could not be expected to do this on his own and that the relationship between piano and voice is one of symbiosis, rather than accompaniment."
Warm voice, cold feelings: Bostridge sings Winterreise in Berkeley
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"Wenwen Du and Bostridge were well-coordinated, in expression as well as timing. They played off of each other, sometimes matched in harshness or gentleness and sometimes contrasting banging on the piano with restrained singing, or elegant playing with ragged vocals. Schubert’s piano writing for Winterreise is less orchestral than onomatopoeic, and Du made the various sounds in the accompaniment clear: violent gusts of wind in Die Wetterfahne and Der Lindenbaum, the boogie-like flow of the river in Auf dem Flusse, the triumphant horn in Die Post, the plunking of falling leaves in Letzte Hoffnung, and the repeated drone of the hurdy-gurdy in Der Leiermann..."
Ian Bostridge’s well-sung, if woebegone, wanderer in San Francisco
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"The extraordinary Canadian pianist Wenwen Du was in remarkable sync with Bostridge, and the music unfolded with unity and balance. Piano flourishes seemed to inspire improvisation from the singer and vice versa: unexpected nuances from the singer immediately shaded the piano part. This was lieder at a high level..."
Timesunion on Winterreise​ at Union College
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"An equal partner in the performance was the marvelous pianist Wenwen Du. She provided a lush backdrop for each of the monologues, putting on beautiful display Schubert’s ability to paint pictures. Examples include the horn calls of “Die Post” (The post) and the airy circling of “Die Krähe” (The crow)..."
VanClassicalMusic.com on Winterreise​ at Vancouver Playhouse
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"[S]he excelled in drawing out -- in an almost ethereal way -- all the haunting repeated note sequences that give many of the later songs their inexorability and sense of time encroaching. Her relative composure often turned out to be a lovely foil to Bostridge’s emotional volatility, and I think her playing has a natural warmth and beauty on its own terms..."
VanClassicalMusic.com, CAROLINE GOULDING AND RAPHAEL SEVERE CAPTIVATE AS ‘NEW GENERATION’ ARTISTS
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"With Wenwen Du displaying a pianism freer and more dramatic than I have previously seen, the opening movement explored a significant range of feelings and achieved convincing power and cohesion..."
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Chooi Chooi Du concert a winner
