Carnaval for piano, Op. 9: Reconnaissance: Animato
Carnaval for piano, Op. 9: Pantalon et Colombine: Presto
Carnaval for piano, Op. 9: Valse allemande: Molto vivace
Carnaval for piano, Op. 9: Paganini. Intermezzo: Presto
Carnaval for piano, Op. 9: Aveu: Passionato
Carnaval for piano, Op. 9: Promenade: Comodo
Carnaval for piano, Op. 9: Pause: Vivo
Carnaval for piano, Op. 9: Marche des 'Davidsbündler' contre les Philistins: Non allegro - Molto più vivo - Animato - Vivo - A
Rhapsodie espagnole (Folies d'Espagne et jota aragonesa), for piano, S. 254 (LW A195)
The Vienna Recital Disc was Recorded in the Renowned Musikverein, which Boasts a Rich Legacy of Performers Including Franz Liszt, Sergej Rachmaninov, and Vladimir Horowitz. Yundi Li Has Thus Far Proved his Recording Merits... more » with the Romantic Repertoire, and While his New CD features One Liszt Composition, 'rhapsody Espagnole', it also Demonstrates the Breadth of Li's Artistic Range as He Explores New Musical Terrain: Schumann's Carnaval, Two Scarlatti Sonatas and - Just in Time for the Mozart Year 2006 - Mozart's Sonata Kv 330. If Critics Respond as Positively to the CD as They Did Li's Live Performances, this Disc Will Take Yundi Li to the Next Level in Terms of Record Sales: 'this Recital Confirmed that He Belongs with the New Pianistic Superstars' Wrote American Record Guide.« less
The Vienna Recital Disc was Recorded in the Renowned Musikverein, which Boasts a Rich Legacy of Performers Including Franz Liszt, Sergej Rachmaninov, and Vladimir Horowitz. Yundi Li Has Thus Far Proved his Recording Merits with the Romantic Repertoire, and While his New CD features One Liszt Composition, 'rhapsody Espagnole', it also Demonstrates the Breadth of Li's Artistic Range as He Explores New Musical Terrain: Schumann's Carnaval, Two Scarlatti Sonatas and - Just in Time for the Mozart Year 2006 - Mozart's Sonata Kv 330. If Critics Respond as Positively to the CD as They Did Li's Live Performances, this Disc Will Take Yundi Li to the Next Level in Terms of Record Sales: 'this Recital Confirmed that He Belongs with the New Pianistic Superstars' Wrote American Record Guide.
CD Reviews
Yundi Li Weaves Magic in Vienna Recital
Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 10/29/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yundi Li, the strikingly handsome pianist who has been gaining a wide audience with his recordings and concerts of the Romantic composers, is here recorded live in a Recital in the elegant and acoustically perfect Musikverein in Vienna, Austria in June 2005. For this important event Li wisely showcased the works of composers not usually associated with his reputation and in doing so gave notice that his spectrum of talent is even larger than we expected.
The recital opens with Scarlatti's Sonata K380 and Sonata in G K13 both of which Li tosses into the ambience of this great hall with a buoyant, airy quality that rivals some of the best known interpreters of Scarlatti. He follows these with the Mozart Sonata No. 10 in C major in a performance that not only provides crystalline purity of tone and execution but also elegant phrasing of line.
Robert Schumann's 'Carnaval' is played in its entirety and serves as a perfect bridge between Yundi Li's mastery of the romantics with the echoes of Mozart and Scarlatti that ring in the distant inspiration of this demanding work. This is a performance of sensitivity and style, finding just the right rapport between the varied selections, the joy and the exuberance of Schumann's great piano work. The final offering on the recital is Liszt's 'Rhapsodie espagnole' played with all the verve and gusto on which Li has wisely built his reputation.
This is an astoundingly fine recording beautifully captured by the engineers, taking full advantage of the Musikverein acoustic. With this recording Yundi Li steps forward as an important pianist to watch. Recommended. Grady Harp, October 05"
CLASSICAL PIANO'S YOUNG TIGER: A BRAVURA RECITAL IN VIENNA!!
RBSProds | Deep in the heart of Texas | 02/14/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Five Big Stars!! A bravura performance in the hallowed Viennese hall of Musikverein. Yundi Li, the pride of China and in the very front rank of the current brilliant young pianists, has made the classical world sit up and take notice with his power, awesome technique, and command of nuance. The youngest gold medal winner ever of the prestigious International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2000, Li has upped the ante and come up a winner with each new year and each CD. This CD of 27 pieces is a "must have" for classical music fans looking towards the future of the music. Each performance is fluid, crystal clear, and awe-inspiring.
Expanding his already impressive repertoire, this program consists of Schumann's Carnaval, Opus 9, I thru XX, with both XVI's; two sonatas by Scarlatti: E major K. 380 and the G major K. 13 ; Liszt's Rhapsodie Espagnole; and Mozart's Sonata KV 330, No 10 in C Major The Scarlatti sonatas are beautiful: wonderfully rendered, clear, with wondrous nuances and is a pure joy to listen to, especially Sonata in G, K. 13. His time is so impressive. Mozart's KV 330, No 10 is likewise marvelous, especially the Allegro Moderato. Of Schumann's Carnaval, my favorites are the commedia dell'arte set pieces for Pierrot, Arlequin, and Pantalon et Colombine.
The Piece De Resistance is the breath-taking, ferociously-rendered but completely controlled 14 minute Rhapsodie Espagnole, S 254. played with so much feeling and dazzling technical ability. SPECTACULAR!! He certainly passes my "Liszt test" with flying colors. Listen to this CD and you are listening to the future of classical piano, and his name is Yundi Li. Wonderfully recorded, highly recommended. Five Big Stars.
(Note: This review is based on the 27 Track ITunes download of Yundi Li "Vienna Recital".)"
Yundi Li's Golden Hall Recitai is Really a Piece of Gold!
F. Wang | Staten Island, NY | 03/04/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yundi Li's Vienna Golden Hall recital is really a piece of gold. In this CD, he played pieces from Scarlatti, Mozart, Schumann to Liszt. I like his playing for Scarlatti's Sonata in E major K380 tremendously. To me, it definitely can compare with Horowitz's Moscow recital. Yundi Li came to New York last year and I went to his concert. I had heard all the other programs on this CD at the concert. But I think he played much better on this CD. I agree that some people considered his interpretation more in line with the composers. Comparing his live concert, I think his playing of Mozart's piano sonata in C major K330 is much more matured in this CD. The sound is great and musicality is superb. Again, Mozart's K330 was played by Horowitz in his Moscow recital as well. So, for those of you who have Horowitz's Moscow recital CD, Yundi Li's is certainly an additional collection to show what a young pianist can do.
I highly recommend this CD for piano music lovers.
"
A varied program from Yundi Li
David A. McKellar | Santa Monica, CA United States | 03/31/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For the first time in his commercially avialable recorded career, Yundi Li presents a varied program of music by different composers on the same CD. Heretofore, his efforts have been confined to recordings exclusively of Liszt or Chopin. This CD traverses the baroque, classical and romantic epochs, specifically works by Scarlatti, Mozart, Schumann and Liszt.
However, a varied program is not in itself a reason to buy this recording. The genuine motive for acquiring this wonderful CD consists in the excellence of the performances themselves, each of which is the essence of musical perfection.
Listen to the articulation of the Scarlatti sonatas, so critical when performed on the modern piano. The pedal is used sparingly and the music literally danses with the lightness and sparkle that is essential to this music. These interpretations easlily stand on their own with Horowitz or Pogorelich.
Mozart, of course, is an extraordinarily difficult composer to perform really well. The music is so transparent that any heavy handedness, idiosyncracies or lack of inspriration become immediately apparent. Here, Li plays the 10th sonata with a much greater degree of assurance than I heard in his live performance of this piece in March of 2005. This is a truly inspired realization with exactly the right balance of tempi and articulation. Never forced or hurried, never lagging in spirit, the sonata sparkles with the lively quality we have come to love in the classical period. And, in particular, listen to how Li plumbs the quiet and deeply moving emotion of the slow middle movement.
Carnaval represents a tremendous departure from the clarity and formal nature of Mozart's musical imagination. We now have a rhapsodic and sometimes violently emotional transversal of an imaginary gathering of strikingly disparate personages. The challenge for the performer is to capture these widely differing aspects of the composition in its elements and yet convey somehow the sense of a cohesive whole to the piece. In my view, Li brings this off magnificently. On might argue with his way with some of the individual sections but, on the whole, the effect is tremendously satisfying. It goes without saying that Li's virtuosity comes into play with great force when required, particularly at the end of the piece when the entire pantheon comes together in a grand final resolution. This will strike some as preposterous, but in some respects I find this performance more satisfying than the storied Michelangeli account available on EMI.
Li brings his recital to a close with a composer with whom he is closely identified, Franz Liszt. It goes without saying this his musical sensibilities are truly fired by the Hungarian virtuoso. All the fiery aspects of this piece, loosely based on spanish inspirations, are realized by Li with his ususal effortless keyboard wizardry, most notably, in my view, near the end of the piece when he pulls off a staggering series of incredibly fast forte staccato arpeggios, yet maintaining perfect articulation all the while. I really don t understand how he does it.
All in all, Li demonstrates once again why he is at the pinnacle of the younger performers now before the public. Tremendous facility at the keyboard, a great musicality and the ability to stamp his unique emotional and intellectual vision on the music, it's all here. The quality of the recording is excellent. This is not, however, a "live" recording, though recorded in the excellent accoustics of the Musikverien."
A Master in the Works
Music Man | Boston MA | 01/29/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yundi Li has been unfairly typecast in the mold of lesser artists, such as the technically brilliant but emotionally bombastic Lang Lang, simply because of his age. Well, with age comes seasoning and it's already happening with this gifted pianist. Having seen both in recitals, Li has a subtler , more textured approach that gives dynamic force and delicacy equal footing. This CD includes a variety of choices not previously in Mr. Li's catalog and it must be said, he is growing by leaps and bounds as an interpreter. There's no doubting his virtuosity: Li's technical skill is unsurpassed. But it's the clearer and more emotionally resonent recordings represented here that show a true artist expanding upon his talents. When I saw him in Boston, he used none of Lang Lang's bombastic showmanship and, rather, let the music speak for itself. He even ended with "Sun Showers" from his DVD, which was not listed in the program. One went away in amazement, just trying to gauge where this artist will emerge next. This CD was prevalent in that night's program and, if anything, Yundi Li improved on the originals. A treat with more treats, no doubt, to come."
Track Listings (27) - Disc #1