Yundi Li
- Thread starter bongman
- Start date
BrainFailure
New member
talented young man.
him and lang lang.
him and lang lang.
rebecca_2486
New member
Yundi Li Singapore Concert Tix
Hi!
Anyone selling Yundi Li Tchaikovsky Gala Concert (Singapore) on the 24th July??
Pls email me: rebecca_2486@hotmail.com
THanks!!
Hi!
Anyone selling Yundi Li Tchaikovsky Gala Concert (Singapore) on the 24th July??
Pls email me: rebecca_2486@hotmail.com
THanks!!
EmperorCQX
New member
It was sold out. I got the $100 plus tickets, can't wait for 24th july.
I liked how Li Yundi play Chopin, he interpret a little 'harder' type than anyone else, epspecially the Scherzo.
I liked how Li Yundi play Chopin, he interpret a little 'harder' type than anyone else, epspecially the Scherzo.
Cheez
Moderator
Anybody went for the concert? The review in ST was horrific.
---
This was the concert everybody was waiting for. With tickets priced between $30 and $120 sold out many weeks in advance, piano fanciers had keenly anticipated the return of Chinese superstar pianist Li Yundi after a hiatus of seven years. He had performed a solo recital at Esplanade's Opening Festival in 2002 and was expected to return with a big splash.
The reality was quite the opposite.
First, the audience was obligated to sit through the 40-odd minutes of Hungarian composer Karl Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony. This five-movement work had its heyday several decades ago, and was even recorded by the likes of Bernstein and Previn.
Overlong by half, it has its moments of na�ve folksy charm (think Smetana's Bartered Bride) with the best music coming in the fourth and fifth movements. Performed with much enthusiasm and verve, the orchestra made a best possible case for it, and one would not mind listening to it again albeit in small doses.
If only the same could be said of Li's ham-fisted assault on what is possibly the world's most popular concerto, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.
His performance may be summed up in two words: shockingly bad. From its outset, it seemed that his intent was to pummel out everything the score had to offer, as if to out-Lang Lang Lang Lang. Coupling a cold harsh tone brutally extracted from a brittle-sounding piano and muddled peddling, poor Tchaikovsky was left looking like a battered bride.
Li certainly loves the bravado that the octave passages offered, but with neither musical thought nor sound judgment applied, these had the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. Dropped or misplaced notes accumulated - so many as to keep any panhandler well fed - and the coup de grace came with a royal hash in the first movement's cadenza.
Things did not improve in the second or third movements, with wild instincts running roughshod over the delicate prestissimo episode in the former, once famously described as a 'scherzo of fireflies'. There was also a major desynchronisation between pianist and orchestra in the exciting run-up to the finale's grand coda. Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am.
The ending was loud and emphatic to be sure. To add insult to injury, the frankly over-generous applause offered was rewarded with a horribly chopped-up and crudely played Schumann-Liszt Widmung (Dedication) as the sole encore. Word has it that he had a plane to catch. Destination: Nowhere?
This travesty of a performance may have been a one-off. However, with so many young Chinese pianists - Wang Yuja, Chen Sa, Chen Jie, Wu Di and recently crowned Van Cliburn competition winner Zhang Haochen - emerging and not to mention the omni-present Lang Lang, Li looks in dire need of reinventing himself.
---
This was the concert everybody was waiting for. With tickets priced between $30 and $120 sold out many weeks in advance, piano fanciers had keenly anticipated the return of Chinese superstar pianist Li Yundi after a hiatus of seven years. He had performed a solo recital at Esplanade's Opening Festival in 2002 and was expected to return with a big splash.
The reality was quite the opposite.
First, the audience was obligated to sit through the 40-odd minutes of Hungarian composer Karl Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony. This five-movement work had its heyday several decades ago, and was even recorded by the likes of Bernstein and Previn.
Overlong by half, it has its moments of na�ve folksy charm (think Smetana's Bartered Bride) with the best music coming in the fourth and fifth movements. Performed with much enthusiasm and verve, the orchestra made a best possible case for it, and one would not mind listening to it again albeit in small doses.
If only the same could be said of Li's ham-fisted assault on what is possibly the world's most popular concerto, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.
His performance may be summed up in two words: shockingly bad. From its outset, it seemed that his intent was to pummel out everything the score had to offer, as if to out-Lang Lang Lang Lang. Coupling a cold harsh tone brutally extracted from a brittle-sounding piano and muddled peddling, poor Tchaikovsky was left looking like a battered bride.
Li certainly loves the bravado that the octave passages offered, but with neither musical thought nor sound judgment applied, these had the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. Dropped or misplaced notes accumulated - so many as to keep any panhandler well fed - and the coup de grace came with a royal hash in the first movement's cadenza.
Things did not improve in the second or third movements, with wild instincts running roughshod over the delicate prestissimo episode in the former, once famously described as a 'scherzo of fireflies'. There was also a major desynchronisation between pianist and orchestra in the exciting run-up to the finale's grand coda. Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am.
The ending was loud and emphatic to be sure. To add insult to injury, the frankly over-generous applause offered was rewarded with a horribly chopped-up and crudely played Schumann-Liszt Widmung (Dedication) as the sole encore. Word has it that he had a plane to catch. Destination: Nowhere?
This travesty of a performance may have been a one-off. However, with so many young Chinese pianists - Wang Yuja, Chen Sa, Chen Jie, Wu Di and recently crowned Van Cliburn competition winner Zhang Haochen - emerging and not to mention the omni-present Lang Lang, Li looks in dire need of reinventing himself.
DoubleBlade
New member
I'll pick him over Lang Lang anytime!
EmperorCQX
New member
Li Yundi's performance was very disappointing. I think he looked down on Singapore's musical intellectual, his obviously pulling a prank when i heard his Concerto no.1. Tchaikovsky would die once more if he listend to it. He lacked a bit of passion back there and his encore... i think it's Schumann's Widmug? It was anti-Schumann a the way.
nikolaiski
New member
hi all,
I'm sorry, as someone who performs and appreciates the art of piano, I have to say, I'm glad that ST was honest with the review. It REALLY WAS shockingly bad. Especially that I've heard so much about Li Yundi since he won the Chopin piano competition years ago.
That was the WORST Tchaikovsky no. 1 rendition EVER. And not because it was played "too fast" or "too slow" or "artistically this and that" but simply because Li Yundi just tried to play as fast as he could for god knows what reason.
And yes I agree, I feel so insulted as an audience. It really felt like he was looking down on our musical intellect by thinking he could get away with such shabbiness.
Ok, no doubt he's technically proficient, but sorry. I've never seen anyone use his WHOLE fist just to BANG one note down (those sitting in front looking at him play on the keyboard will know what I'm talking about)
Even my girlfriend who isn't musically inclined or doesn't play the piano had a whole lotta bad things to say about him, and I think that really takes the cake.
You want a good pianist? Boris Berezovsky playing Rachmaninoff no. 3 a few months ago at esplanade - although overplayed to death, he just knew what to do to wow the audience, and by this i do not mean he accomplished that by playing fast and loud and with such great bravado, the piano would fall thru the concert stage. never overplaying, he still garnered no less than 3 encores.
How upset were we? We didn't clap our hands at the end of the Tchaikovsky, and we walked out after the encore. Call me proud, but I don't recall being so badly insulted for 30 straight minutes ever in my life.
I'm sorry, as someone who performs and appreciates the art of piano, I have to say, I'm glad that ST was honest with the review. It REALLY WAS shockingly bad. Especially that I've heard so much about Li Yundi since he won the Chopin piano competition years ago.
That was the WORST Tchaikovsky no. 1 rendition EVER. And not because it was played "too fast" or "too slow" or "artistically this and that" but simply because Li Yundi just tried to play as fast as he could for god knows what reason.
And yes I agree, I feel so insulted as an audience. It really felt like he was looking down on our musical intellect by thinking he could get away with such shabbiness.
Ok, no doubt he's technically proficient, but sorry. I've never seen anyone use his WHOLE fist just to BANG one note down (those sitting in front looking at him play on the keyboard will know what I'm talking about)
Even my girlfriend who isn't musically inclined or doesn't play the piano had a whole lotta bad things to say about him, and I think that really takes the cake.
You want a good pianist? Boris Berezovsky playing Rachmaninoff no. 3 a few months ago at esplanade - although overplayed to death, he just knew what to do to wow the audience, and by this i do not mean he accomplished that by playing fast and loud and with such great bravado, the piano would fall thru the concert stage. never overplaying, he still garnered no less than 3 encores.
How upset were we? We didn't clap our hands at the end of the Tchaikovsky, and we walked out after the encore. Call me proud, but I don't recall being so badly insulted for 30 straight minutes ever in my life.
Last edited:
EmperorCQX
New member
To put things worst, Yundi even got a standing ovation for no good reasons.
what to do. famous mah.
EmperorCQX
New member
Well.... it's ironic since he did a bad job. This shows that people pamper him instead of interpret the performance by Yundi. It's a bit awkward.... how do i put this....
[vogue]angel
New member
i havent seen yundi li for quite sometime. Last time I saw him was I think in 2003. ( I thinklar). he was goodlar, played la campanella.
you cannot compare Lang Lang with Yundi Li. I really enjoy watching Lang Lang play. The way he play is so electrifying.
*sigh, i dun think there are good pianist coming to Malaysia.
you cannot compare Lang Lang with Yundi Li. I really enjoy watching Lang Lang play. The way he play is so electrifying.
*sigh, i dun think there are good pianist coming to Malaysia.
squarehero
New member
Actually, I think both Lang Lang and Yundi Li are pretty good pianists from what I saw on youtube. Although, I do find both their playing expressions a bit overdone and too showy compared to the calm demeanour and grace of old pros like Arthur Rubinstein.
To me, classical music is not rock unless you are a fusion player like Maksim. It is also not a guitar solo with funny facial expressions. No need to show us your musical orgasm every time you perform a difficult run. Besides, all that hunching over and what not must be bad for the back.
Guess I'm just old school about this. Of course, the good part about all the overdone expressions is that the younger rock/pop influenced generation can more easily absorb the emotion of the performance, something that the old pros were able to fully provide through music alone.
To me, classical music is not rock unless you are a fusion player like Maksim. It is also not a guitar solo with funny facial expressions. No need to show us your musical orgasm every time you perform a difficult run. Besides, all that hunching over and what not must be bad for the back.
Guess I'm just old school about this. Of course, the good part about all the overdone expressions is that the younger rock/pop influenced generation can more easily absorb the emotion of the performance, something that the old pros were able to fully provide through music alone.
nikolaiski
New member
Ditto. I'm a Rubenstein fan myself, same with Claudio Arrau, Martha Argerich (who technically isn't THAT old school but STILL has that impossible-to-find-nowadays kind of finesse), Marc Andre Hamelin, you get my drift.
I'm really tired of pianists who slaughter pieces with brilliant technique and nothing else. It's the reason why I stopped going to SSO performances altogether - 75% of the time you'll get someone like that.
Of course, this is personal opinion. Others might disagree.
I'm really tired of pianists who slaughter pieces with brilliant technique and nothing else. It's the reason why I stopped going to SSO performances altogether - 75% of the time you'll get someone like that.
Of course, this is personal opinion. Others might disagree.
nikolaiski
New member
i think the question on some of our minds when approaching such a subjective topic would be .. what do you define as "good?" As you can clearly see, my definition is someone who doesn't bang through the whole piece without so much as a thought for finesse, artistry, interpretation..you know. For some, the faster the better. And so on. What's yours?
[vogue]angel
New member
me ar? is how the approach to the song. How he interprets it. That's what I think is good. This is very subjective at times. I personally enjoy speed playing at times. ( 2 much shred guitar influence my taste at times)
But there is one thing i'm sure of, everybody interprets it differently. haha
But there is one thing i'm sure of, everybody interprets it differently. haha
