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I’m listening to Li Yundi (李云迪) on Spotify, barely just an hour after hearing him perform at the majestic Royal Festival Hall at Southbank. I will be forever grateful to my girlfriend for introducing me to this delightful genius of a pianist, as it was only at her insistence I found myself surprisingly wowed by Li Yundi’s remarkable technique.

But it is no surprise or fluke for that matter that he is capable of bringing to life a two dimensional sheet of music. On this occasion, he performed a full repertoire of Fryderyk Chopin, which is fitting as it was the maestro Chopin’s music that launched Li Yundi‘s career in the first place.

This piano superstar hailing from Chongqing in China shot to fame when he won the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition at the age of 18, becoming the youngest ever winner of the renowned and acclaimed prize. As with most musical geniuses, he showed hints of musical flair from a young age, picking up the accordion at the age of three and mastering the complex instrument in just a year. At the age of seven, he started learning the piano, and with the help of one of China’s most renowned piano teachers (Dan Zhaoyi), his talent blossomed.

At this Chopin recital at the Royal Festival Hall at Southbank, he performed a repertoire of solo performances, all composed by Fryderyk Chopin. Unsurprisingly, given his fame, the hall was packed out even though it was a Tuesday night, with many patriotic Chinese fans turning up to catch a rare performance by Li Yundi in the UK. In China, this gifted pianist is somewhat of a celebrity, and it showed with the raucous clapping and cheers at the end of the recital, with Li Yundi obliging the crowd by coming out to play three encore short pieces. After the performance, there was a long queue of people clutching his CDs queuing up to get his autograph, the first time I have seen such a thing at a classical concert!

Having listened to Lang Lang (郎朗), another gifted Chinese pianist (and coincidentally born in the same year), it is hard to separate the two. Such are their immense skills that they are literally both at the top of the piano music profession at the moment. I watched Lang Lang perform at the Royal Albert Hall about half a year ago, and while I believe that Li Yundi has the edge over Lang Lang, it might have just been the better piano acoustics at the Royal Festival Hall. Still, I was a bit disappointed with the Li Yundi’s choice of Chopin pieces in the first half; while they were crowd pleasing tunes, they were also some of the easier ones to play, songs that he could play in his sleep.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Venue: Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

Article written by Boon Koh.