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Chinese pianist's fortunes rise with hometown boom
2005-01-08
NEW YORK - Chinese concert pianist Yundi Li, whose eloquent playing has won international accolades, is starting to gain attention outside the classical music world.Along with such athletic superheroes as Lance Armstrong and Serena Williams, the 22-year-old Li was featured in Nike's "You're Faster Than You Think" ad campaign, which aired internationally during the 2004 Summer Olympics. Unlike many other artists of his generation whose passions lie far outside mainstream culture, Li's popularity in his native China rivals that of any rock star, particularly in his hometown, the boomtown city of Shenzhen. "Shenzhen is young," notes Li, who says that his hometown has grown from nothing into a major industrial port with a population of more than 7 million during the course of only a few years. "Ever since my family and I moved there in 1995, the city and the school at which I studied gave me a lot of support and space to let my talent and art grow," he says. He credits hometown support for his first prize at 2000's International Chopin Competition in Poland -- the first time in 15 years that judges deemed any player worthy of the honor. Li's success and the region's growing wealth have spurred the city to fashion itself as a cultural destination. "Because of the city's economic achievements, many families now have money to buy pianos and afford lessons for their children, and parents encourage their children to be like me," he observes. "Shenzhen itself now wants to be known as 'Piano City."' To that end, Li says, "the city recently built a new concert hall, and they are making plans to begin hosting their own international piano competition." Like Lang Lang -- the other major young male Chinese pianist on today's touring circuit -- Li is signed to Deutsche Grammophon, which is releasing his recording of Chopin scherzos and impromptus Jan. 11. While Li is particularly well-known for his affinity for Chopin and Liszt, his recording schedule is seeing him branch out from the Romantics. "I'm spending more time now with Beethoven and Mozart as well as Prokofiev and Ravel," Li says, noting that his next Deutsche Grammophon project will include Mozart's Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 330 and the Mozart Piano Sonata in B-Flat Major, K. 570, recorded live at the Musikverein in Vienna. Li says that sitting at the piano is only one part of his approach to shaping his artistic ideas. "I try to keep half the year for public performances and recording, and the other half for study," Li says. That study, he says, can take him far away from the written score. "For Chopin, for instance," the pianist explains, "Life and music are about so many interesting things: his passion for his culture and his native country, and his love affair with George Sand, for example. So I read about that, and I read history books and biographies too. I also enjoy reading Shakespeare and psychology: It keeps one's mind developed and also contributes to better music-making." Reuters/Billboard
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