Search - Frederic Chopin, Yundi Li :: Chopin Recital

Chopin playing of the highest order

Robert L. Berkowitz | Natick, MA United States | 12/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was attracted to this CD when I read that the artist was the 2000 Warsaw Chopin competition winner. I have some recordings of some of the performances at the Chopin competition, and I simply wanted to add this recent winner to my collection. I wasn't expecting very much. My other recordings of Chopin competition winners include an early recording by Argerich shortly after her victory and recordings of Garrick Ohlsson and Krystian Zimerman during the competition. In all cases, these artists have improved considerably as they have matured. They were young when they competed and had much room for growing and maturing.Yundi Li's debut recording is entirely remarkable by comparison. As soon as he begins the B minor Sonata, one can tell one is in the presence of a refined, mature artist. And he is only 19! After having listened to an absolutely enthralling, fully idiomatic, delicately lyrical performance of the B minor Sonata, I went on to read that he is the youngest person ever to have been awarded the first prize in the Chopin competition. Moreover, they had not given a first prize in the 15 years of competitions prior to year 2000. No less a luminary than Krystian Zimerman turned down a request to teach Mr. Li acknowledging that "I have nothing to teach him."Highlights of the disc include the B minor Sonata, the Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise and the Fantasie Impromptu. The etudes are played with complete technical mastery. The Op. 9 Nocturnes are beautiful and refined. His use of rubato is always tasteful. He never loses the lyrical line even in the most technically demanding passages.I once believed that one had to be ancestrally or geographically connected to Poland in order to play with such sensitivity to the idiom. I know that many others make the point that Fou Ts'ong bridges that East-West gap, but I don't agree. In listening to Ts'ong, I still have the impression that a layer of cultural overlay has been added. Ts'ong is a thoughtful and interesting performer, but I consistenly turn to Rubinstein, Zimerman, Davidovich, Czerny-Stefanska, Malcuzynski and Emanuel Ax, as well as some others, to hear Chopin's music as I think it is intended to be played.I am pleased to say that I can add Yundi Li to this list. And that is a wonderful realization, for it affirms that Chopin's music is truly universal."

Nuanced, emotional, technically flawless

Peter Pawinski | Chicago, IL | 05/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I also urge you to ignore the negative comments. One reviewer claimed this CD lacked rubato and Li's approach was more suitable to Bach than Chopin. Perhaps they've gotten a different disc than the one I have, as rubato is evident all over these performances. Check out his Nocturnes, and tell me that's played in straight time. Not even close.What Yundi Lin does so well is manage to play Chopin with a keen sense of the Romantic idiom, without overstating it. Romantic-era music is so easily subject to over-interpretation, exaggerated rubatos and dynamic changes. It's much too easy to "ham up" and often is in danger of becoming a cariacature of itself. (I find performances by many Russian players to fall into this category.) Despite his perfect technique, Lin's performaces are hardly academic. I marvel at the lightness and quickness of his fingers on Chopin's Etude 10 No 2 in A-Minor. His performance of this difficult piece sounds completely effortless and tastefully nuanced. His phrasing is spot-on, his dynamic changes smooth. It's a very warm performance of a piece that can be a cold display of finger and wrist dexterity.Yundi Lin deserves all the accolades he's getting. He is the perfect combination of artistry and technique, and I doubt there is currently any better performer of Chopin. Buy this disc."

Every piece here is comparable to the best that I have heard

David A. McKellar | 08/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yundi Li had truly played every piece here like a maestro although he was only 18 when he recorded this debut album of his. If you compare Li's Sonata No.3 op.58 with that played by Kissin, you will find that Li is more expressive, more emotional and has got more dynamism also. Li had interpreted Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise op. 22 in a most natural way. I haven't heard any other pianist playing this peice in such a natural way. His Fantaisie Impromptu op. 66 is simply fabulous. Not only had Li played this piece with impeccable technique, he had injected in it great imagination and passion too. While he played Etude op. 25 no.11 with equal virtuosity as Pollini, he is not clinical like Pollini. Li has got not only extraordinary musicality, he has got virtuosity as well. Yundi Li is really a pianist to watch out for as it is really not easy to find one possessing both such qualities."