Yundi Li – Chopin: Preludes (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Yundi Li – Chopin: Preludes (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 38:57 minutes | 639 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mercury KX

Pianist Yundi returns to Chopin – the composer he is most closely associated with. This album will feature Chopin’s Complete Preludes, a collection of beloved works for solo piano. The release coincides with the 15th anniversary of Yundi’s legendary victory at the International Warsaw Chopin Competition in 2000. At 18 he was the youngest and first-ever Chinese winner and it was the first time in 15 years that a ‘First Prize’ had been awarded.

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Yundi Li – Chopin: Ballades, Berceuse, Mazurkas (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Yundi Li – Chopin: Ballades, Berceuse, Mazurkas (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 55:59 minutes | 1,03 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mercury KX

Adored by millions of fans for his Chopin playing, Yundi continues his dedication to the composer with an album of „Ballades.“

Yundi, the Chinese dazzling pianist acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal for his – poetic depth and patrician elegance – continues his award-winning exploration of the works of Chopin with a new recording of the Ballades, and by embarking on a major international tour. If precedent is a guide, both are expected to cause massive excitement among his fans.

For his new all-Chopin recording, Yundi performs the Opus 17 set of four Mazurkas, the Berceuse (Op 57), and all four Ballades. The latter works were composed between 1831 and 1842, and contain some of the composers most operatic writing, as well as his most challenging technical demands.

With his forensic, lyrical poeticism underpinned by a phenomenal technique, Yundi has become one of the most admired performers of Chopin in recent years. In 2000, he was he the first Chinese performer ever to win the prestigious Chopin Competition. He was also (at eighteen) the youngest winner in the history of the event, and the first player in fifteen years to be granted first prize. In 2015 Yundi accepted the great honour of returning to the competition in the capacity of an adjudicator (becoming the youngest judge in the competitions history) alongside other luminaries of the keyboard world including Martha Argerich, Dmitri Alexeev and Garrick Ohlsson.

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Yundi Li – Beethoven – Pathétique, Moonlight, Appassionata (2012) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Yundi Li - Beethoven - Pathétique, Moonlight, Appassionata (2012) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Yundi Li – Beethoven – Pathétique, Moonlight, Appassionata (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:12 minutes | 1,05 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Mercury KX

Following his recordings on Deutsche Grammophon of music by Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt, Chinese pianist Yundi Li takes on the three most popular piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven, the “Pathétique,” “Moonlight,” and “Appassionata.” Known for having brilliant technique and dynamic showmanship, Yundi plays against type in these beloved works, which call for more introspection and expressiveness than might be expected from him. Even though the outer movements of “Pathétique” and “Appassionata” and the last movement of “Moonlight” give Yundi ample opportunity to demonstrate his agility, power, and high energy, they are relatively restrained, compared to the kind of virtuosic fare that made him an international star. Furthermore, the Classical impulse that informed these sonatas calls for a balance of moods, not just bravura playing. The slow movements let Yundi show he is more than just a flashy technician, and he gives carefully considered performances that work, albeit as fairly Romantic readings. Because Beethoven’s piano sonatas have been interpreted and recorded by pianists too numerous to count, it’s easy to dismiss performances that fall short of the great recordings of the past, especially any that seem addressed to a mainstream audience. Yundi’s album will not impress connoisseurs who have already settled on their favorite recordings, though casual listeners may like what Yundi does with the music and learn more about Beethoven as a result. –Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide
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Yundi Li – Franz Liszt: Piano Recital (2003) MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Yundi Li – Franz Liszt: Piano Recital (2003)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & DST64 5.0 >1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Front Cover | 3.53 GB
FLAC tracks 2.0 24bit/88.2 kHz | Front Cover | 984 MB

Li plays with a rare combination of virtuoso skill & poetic interpretations, each note he plays a reminder of why, in 2000, his music inspired the jury of the 14th International Chopin Piano Competition to give out the 1st top prize in 15 years to the then 18-year-old boy . . . “His maturity is obvious from the arrangements of the rhythmic transitions to the superb control of strength variations, which is known as the most difficult part of Chopin’s compositions”, (notes director Zhang Guoyong, who conducted the concert.) “It won’t be long before he is a maestro,” Zhang predicts.

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Yundi Li – Liszt (2003) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Yundi Li – Liszt (2003)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 58:40 minutes | 457 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Yundi Li’s first recording for Deutsche Grammophon was a profoundly superficial Chopin recital, turning the poet of the piano into the poetaster of piano players. His second recording for DG is this deeply insensitive Liszt recital. As with Li’s Chopin recital, no one could doubt that Li is a superb virtuoso with amazing power, astounding dexterity, and astonishing velocity. He tears through the sonata without breaking a sweat and flies through the Rigoletto paraphrase without a slipped note. But how much does it matter when Li’s interpretations are null and void, bathos and bombast that is tremendously thrilling but utterly lacking in emotional, intellectual, or spiritual qualities? Time and time again, you’ll be blown away by Li’s incredible technique, and time and time again, you’ll wonder what difference it makes when Li’s interpretations are nothing but a spectacular sequence of special effects. Imagine a Jurassic Park starring only dinosaurs or a Star Wars starring only Yoda, and you’ll get the idea. Deutsche Grammophon’s sound is superbly realistic and lifelike. It’s too bad that Li’s playing is neither.

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Yundi Li – Chopin: Scherzi; Impromptus (2004) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Yundi Li – Chopin: Scherzi; Impromptus (2004)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 53:10 minutes | 855 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Yundi Li is being groomed for superstardom. He’s got the looks, youth, and keyboard athleticism to fill that role, but on the basis of this all-Chopin disc (and his previous Chopin and Liszt recitals), he still lacks the interpretive maturity that translates into staying power. His B minor Scherzo, for example, comes off as excessively sectional, and its central section lacks poetry. Other works here fare better, but his attention appears focused on pianistic fluency and dazzling finger work, often at the expense of a full measure of emotional communication. The Impromptus, lovely as they are in places, tend to blandness. Li compensates for his lack of depth and spontaneity with a beautiful tone, remarkably even runs, and precise articulation at high speeds, attributes which should be sufficient for many. If you’re looking for the rhetorical, probing grandeur of an Arrau or the emotional directness of a Rubinstein you’ll look elsewhere. But if you’re in tune with Pollini’s detached, objective Chopin and enjoy hearing a skilled pianist perform impressive technical feats on the instrument, you’ll want this disc.

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Yundi Li, Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Harding – Emperor / Fantasy (Beethoven & Schumann) (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Yundi Li, Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Harding – Emperor / Fantasy (Beethoven & Schumann) (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:06:55 minutes | 1,28 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mercury KX

Yundi Li was propelled on to the international stage when he won first prize at the XIV Chopin International Piano Competition at the age of 18, becoming the youngest and first Chinese winner in the history of the prestigious competition. He has since caused a sensation in the world’s leading concert halls.

During his tours, recitals and concertizing, performing some of the greatest masterpieces of piano literature, it seemed inevitable that this fine artist would eventually record Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. Yundi Li performed this work with conductor Daniel Harding and the Berlin Philharmonic. The recording also includes a performance of a fascinating solo work, Schumann’s Fantasie in C major. These are works that invite music lovers to compare different artists and interpretations.

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann
Performer: Yundi Li
Conductor: Daniel Harding
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

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Yundi Li – Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Yundi Li – Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:41 minutes | 1,34 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

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.

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