First prize in Chopin International Piano Contest at the age of seventeen, three DG recordings programmed exclusively of Chopin and Liszt, that's as much of fuzz as a young pianist could bear. But is he really THAT good? From China? Those questions might explain the fact that Yundi Li's concert in Shriver Hall was sold out, a rarity even to this 80-year-old concert series. Then what was the answer? Well, let's just say those who missed it would bitterly regret.
Dressed in a silky black shirt and black pant, Yundi came out with his trade-mark airy hair style. I was a little surprised by how slim he was. He addressed the audience's warm welcome with equally warm smiles and nods. The first in program was Mozart's Sonata No.10 in C Major, K. 330, a "high-spirited and light-textured work", by the program notes, presumably "reflecting the composer's optimism about his recent marriage and his newfound independence in the imperial capital" (Vienna). Yundi took it with ease and as a small exercise for the remaining, technically more demanding pieces.
Lined up next was Chopin's Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 31, which was included in his latest recording featuring Chopin's four scherzi. The second scherzo was the most complex and elaborated among those four. Opened in an awakening chord, this piece demanded the audience's attention right from the beginning. The following breath-taking passage, which Yundi played with dazzling virtuosity, silenced the whole concert hall. The audience awarded it with unusually eager wows and applauds.
After the intense scherzo, Yundi comforted the audience with Chopin's Andante spianato and Grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22, which was a flashy and poetic work originally written as a solo part in a polonaise for piano and orchestra. This piece showed how Yundi was able to catch the very intricacy and melancholy nature of Chopin.
The feature presentation after the intermission was inevitably Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, which Yundi recorded for DG and internationally praised for his unique interpretation. This career-building recording marked the young pianist's maturity. I've listened to this CD for many times and especially liked the energetic way he handled those haunting themes in bass notes. In his own words, this sonata was "a life" with both its birth and death. So heavy as he saw it, he effectively communicated the seriousness to the audience with his sweating Lisztomania virtuosity. Those in the audience who came with doubts would have their own verdicts by now. And I was pretty sure by the standing wows, the long-lasting applauds and the packed lines of CD signing that Yundi Li was "guilty as charged".
One last word to say about this concert would be that as Chinese I was ashamed by not knowing the name of his refreshing encore, which was clearly based on a famous Chinese folk melody.
Dressed in a silky black shirt and black pant, Yundi came out with his trade-mark airy hair style. I was a little surprised by how slim he was. He addressed the audience's warm welcome with equally warm smiles and nods. The first in program was Mozart's Sonata No.10 in C Major, K. 330, a "high-spirited and light-textured work", by the program notes, presumably "reflecting the composer's optimism about his recent marriage and his newfound independence in the imperial capital" (Vienna). Yundi took it with ease and as a small exercise for the remaining, technically more demanding pieces.
Lined up next was Chopin's Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 31, which was included in his latest recording featuring Chopin's four scherzi. The second scherzo was the most complex and elaborated among those four. Opened in an awakening chord, this piece demanded the audience's attention right from the beginning. The following breath-taking passage, which Yundi played with dazzling virtuosity, silenced the whole concert hall. The audience awarded it with unusually eager wows and applauds.
After the intense scherzo, Yundi comforted the audience with Chopin's Andante spianato and Grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22, which was a flashy and poetic work originally written as a solo part in a polonaise for piano and orchestra. This piece showed how Yundi was able to catch the very intricacy and melancholy nature of Chopin.
The feature presentation after the intermission was inevitably Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, which Yundi recorded for DG and internationally praised for his unique interpretation. This career-building recording marked the young pianist's maturity. I've listened to this CD for many times and especially liked the energetic way he handled those haunting themes in bass notes. In his own words, this sonata was "a life" with both its birth and death. So heavy as he saw it, he effectively communicated the seriousness to the audience with his sweating Lisztomania virtuosity. Those in the audience who came with doubts would have their own verdicts by now. And I was pretty sure by the standing wows, the long-lasting applauds and the packed lines of CD signing that Yundi Li was "guilty as charged".
One last word to say about this concert would be that as Chinese I was ashamed by not knowing the name of his refreshing encore, which was clearly based on a famous Chinese folk melody.
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