Liu’s imaginative program design was matched by poetic playing in Tchaikovsky’s miniatures and fiery and sonorous renderings of Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 4 and Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 7.

The audience at the New York Philharmonic Thursday night saw a different side of Yuja Wang—literally.

The first half of the program, “Light in Darkness,” featured newly commissioned works by writer a.k. payne, paired with art ...