Yundi Li

Born in Chongqing 19 years before he made this Chopin recording, Yundi Li is too old to qualify as a prodigy, and he's absurdly young to be labelled a "great master", but that's indubitably what he is. He has all the poetry and authority of Evgeny Kissin, but no whiff of that Russian's aggressive self-projection. When he won the Warsaw Competition at 18, he announced that he wanted to become "the next Zimerman", but the real Zimerman turned down his request to study with him, saying there was nothing more he could teach him. This CD demonstrates the point to perfection: the only flaw one might detect–over-pedalling in a Nocturne–proves to be a carefully calculated effect in one of a series of gorgeously fresh renderings of hackneyed favourites. Li opens with the third sonata, establishing a big golden tone from the outset; he points up the architecture of this episodic work with leisurely assurance, and if his tempi seem leisurely even in the fast movements, that is because he brings out every detail with pellucid clarity. How did such quintessentially romantic playing emerge from the heart of China? Don't even ask: just marvel, and enjoy.

Young piano sensation Yundi Li collaborates with Seiji Ozawa and the Berlin Philharmoniker to present two highly innovative and provocative keyboard works from the 20th-century– Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 and Ravel Piano Concerto in G major.

This 2014 release of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, "Emperor," and Schumann's Fantasy in C major is another huge release for Deutsche Grammophon, and the performances are characteristic of this Chinese pianist – energetic, propulsive, fierce, and brilliant, though also brash and hard-edged, with a metallic quality that is often clangorous. Yundi's vigorous displays of technique are incisive and muscular, and his tone cuts cleanly through the Berlin Philharmonic's orchestral accompaniment, so there is a real purpose to his style of attack, even if it sometimes seems unduly harsh.

A collection of piano pieces by Yundi Li, a Chinese pianist who won the Chopin Competition. Even in romantic pieces such as Chopin's Pieces and Schumann's ``Traumerei,'' her youthful and graceful pianism is visible, inviting her fans into a dream world. Recorded in 2002. CD-Extra version containing footage of the ``Polonaise'' part of ``Andante Spianato and Magnificent Polonaise'' from the Chopin International Piano Competition held in October 2000

Yundi’s new album, recorded in Salzburg, features Mozart’s Piano Sonatas K. 310, K. 475, K. 457, and K. 331. The pianist, a Steinway Artist, was propelled into the international spotlight when he won first prize at the XIV Chopin International Piano Competition at the age of 18, becoming the youngest and first Chinese winner in the history of the renowned competition. “Yundi Li’s direct, sharply etched, upbeat account of Mozart’s wonderful C major K. 330 sonata would do any pianist proud.” – Jed Distler from Classics Today.

Li plays with a rare combination of virtuoso skill & poetic interpretations, each note he plays a reminder of why, in 2000, his music inspired the jury of the 14th International Chopin Piano Competition to give out the 1st top prize in 15 years to the then 18-year-old boy . . . “His maturity is obvious from the arrangements of the rhythmic transitions to the superb control of strength variations, which is known as the most difficult part of Chopin’s compositions”, (notes director Zhang Guoyong, who conducted the concert.) “It won’t be long before he is a maestro,” Zhang predicts.

Pianist Yundi, formerly Yundi Li, might have several reasons for trying something new with Chopin. It was with Chopin that he became the youngest and the first Chinese winner of the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, at age 18 in 2000, and he has played Chopin countless times since then. Cynics might recall that a Yundi Chopin concerto performance crashed and burned several years ago owing to miscommunications between pianist and conductor. Whatever the case, Yundi here conducts the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra from the keyboard.