The young Chinese pianist Yundi Li came to international
prominence by winning the first prize at the Frederic
Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw in October
2000. This is now Li’s sixth recording for the prestigious
German yellow label and this release of works that enjoyed contrasting
fortunes, is one of his finest. Here Li makes his debut with
the BPO and re-establishes a working relationship with Maestro
Ozawa; an enviable collaboration.
The opening concerto on the disc is Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor. Written in 1912-13 this
was premiered in August 1913 at Pavlovsk, near Saint
Petersburg under conductor Alexander Aslanov with the twenty-two year
old composer as soloist. During the troubles of the 1917 Revolution
the score was lost. However, Prokofiev’s working sketches
were found in 1923 allowing the composer to rewrite the entire
work. Prokofiev was again the soloist at the premiere of rewritten
version in May 1924 in Paris under Koussevitzky. It
was received with derision both
from audience and critics and remains one of Prokofiev’s lesser
performed concertos. It seems that Prokofiev dedicated the
score in memory of his close friend the twenty-two year old
pianist Max Schmidthof who had committed suicide by
shooting himself.
Yundi
Li is on his finest form with the G
minor Concerto; a score that communicates itself as
a veritable patchwork quilt of colours and ideas. The
start and ending of the Andantino has a reflective
quality, situated either side of spiky and edgy rhythms in
the body of a movement that increases in drama, containing
episodes of dark excitement. The short Scherzo; Vivace
has a character of perpetual motion. Li conveys agitation
and restlessness together with whirling passages of thorny
quality. With significant assurance the impressive
Li accentuates the harsh and savage Intermezzo; Allegro
moderato. Its menacing rhythms are a constant feature
as is the underlying martial tread. The concluding Allegro
tempestoso covers a wide spectrum of colours. Opening
frenetically and threateningly Li develops the mood from 1:33-3:31
into music of a more introspective character before cranking
up the tension and the storm. At 5:37-6:58 a slower, darker
passage gives way to a rapid increase in strength and tension.
After a brief respite at 8:55-9:25 Li revels in the dramatic
and loud conclusion. Recorded live at the Philharmonie there
is audience applause and some general noise audible but nothing
too intrusive.
My
recommended recording of the Prokofiev score is the exciting
and passionate 1990 Concertgebouw, Amsterdam interpretation
from soloist Horacio Gutierrez with the Royal Concertgebouw
Orchestra under Neeme Järvi on Chandos CHAN 8889 (c/w Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No. 3). Gutierrez’s Concertos Nos. 2 and 3
are also part of a set of the complete Piano Concertos with
soloist Boris Berman on Piano Concertos 1, 4 and 5 on Chandos
CHAN 8938 (2).
The
second work is Ravel’s high spirited and popular Piano Concerto
in G major. The first of Ravel’s two concertos, the G major
was composed in 1929–31. Marguerite Long was the soloist at
the premiere in January 1932 in Paris with the composer conducting
the Lamoureux Orchestra. The Concerto utilises the traditional
three movement form employing a contrasting style within and
between movements.
In
the opening Allegramente with its jazzy undercurrents
the confident Yundi Li provides a wide spectrum of colourful
and significant imagination. Especially memorable is how time
seems to stand still in Li’s assuredly meditative reading
of the beautiful central Adagio assai. The concluding
Presto with its jazzy syncopations is played with brilliance
and excitement by this highly talented soloist. No audience
was present for this recording - again made in the Berlin
Philharmonie. The sound quality is first class.
I
have on vinyl what I consider to be the finest recording of
the Ravel from soloist Leonard Bernstein conducting the Columbia
Symphony Orchestra. For me Bernstein is sublimely poetic in
the Adagio assai and enviably sparkling in the outer
movements. Recorded in 1958 in New York City I have the version
on a 1982 vinyl LP entitled The Bernstein Years, Vol.
V on CBS Classics 60338 (c/w Shostakovich Piano Concerto
No. 2).
At
only fifty-one minutes the total playing time of this DG disc
is derisory but the excellent performances and sound quality
are first rate. The disappointing booklet notes, presented
in the form of brief discussion between Li and Ozawa, are
in effect no more than a publicity profile.
Yundi
Li is a performer thoroughly inside the music. He is well
able to convey excitement and drama in the Allegros
and affecting emotion in the slow movements. The support from
Maestro Ozawa and the Berlin Philharmonic is of an elevated
standard and the vivid recording imparts significant orchestral
detail.
Michael
Cookson
Yundi Li (piano)
