01 Yundi Li - Chopin:Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 - I. Maestoso 02 Yundi Li - Chopin:Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 - II. Larghetto 03 Yundi Li - Chopin:Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 - III. Allegro vivace 04 Yundi Li - Chopin:Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11 - I. Allegro maestoso 05 Yundi Li - Chopin:Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11 - II. Romanze (Larghetto) 06 Yundi Li - Chopin:Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11 - III. Rondo (Vivace)
Yundi, one of the most celebrated and influential pianists of today, has returned to Warner Classics with the signature of a long-term agreement between him and the label. His first release under the new agreement, due for release in January 2020, will be an album of Chopin’s Piano Concertos Nos 1 and 2, on which he directs the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra from the keyboard. This constitutes both his first recording as pianist-conductor and his first recording of the Piano Concerto No 2. His previous Warner Classics release, the complete Chopin Nocturnes, dates from 2010.
Warsaw and Chopin have played an essential role in Yundi’s career: in 2000, at the age of just 18, he became the youngest winner of the Chopin International Piano Competition. Since then, he has become recognised as a leading exponent of the Polish composer’s music and in 2015 served on the jury of the Chopin Competition. Earlier this year, in recognition of his contribution to Polish culture, he received Poland’s Gold Medal for Merit to Culture, ‘Gloria Artis’. He first conducted the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra in Chopin’s two concertos in 2017, performing in Warsaw, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chongqing.
演奏會當晚,他彈奏的蕭邦《降E大調夜曲》(Nocturne in E-flat Major, Opus 9, No. 2)和《馬祖卡舞曲》(Four Mazurkas, Opus 33)喚起人們內在深層的懷舊之情,深入探索情感的內蘊,這是那些隻在鍵盤前裝模作樣如郎朗之流絕對無法企及的境界。難怪眼光獨到的紐約樂評家哈裏斯?郭德史密斯(Harris Goldsmith)也對李雲迪讚不絕口,稱讚他的演奏表現出“貴族般的高雅”和“精湛的藝術造詣”,堪稱“多年來、甚至數十年來僅見的最偉大鋼琴天才”。
不過,一個月後李雲迪同樣在卡內基音樂廳舉行的演奏會,卻改動了曲目。原本打算演奏莫劄特(Mozart)和貝多芬(Beethoven)的作品,以展現他內在對音樂傳統和作曲家個性的了解和領悟,後來改成一首李斯特改編自舒曼曲風浮誇的曲子Widmung、幾首郎朗最擅長的那類“老幾樣”庸俗中國民謠,以及一首被樂評家過度強調的最長曲目,莫傑斯特?穆索爾斯基(Mussorgsky)的巨作鋼琴套曲《展覽會上的圖畫》(Pictures at an Exhibition)。如果沒有外在強加的壓力,李雲迪應該不會自願舍棄舒曼或海頓(Haydon)的內心作品,而選擇穆索爾斯基陳腐的老調。