Finding new life through Chopin

Li Yundi's piano wizardry returns to the concert stage as he embraces his favorite composer. Chen Nan reports.

Over little more than a decade, from 1831 to 1843, Fryderyk Chopin composed four ballades, a musical form he helped create by adapting the narrative sequence to solo piano composition.

The four ballades are considered the finest of Chopin's works and mark the composer's musical evolution after he left his homeland Poland for Paris.

Chinese pianist Li Yundi, who considers Chopin his favorite composer, played the four works as a young student more than a decade ago.

The youngest-ever winner at the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in 2000 when he was 18, he returned to sit on the competition jury of the competition in 2015.

Li says he is experiencing a mature stage in his career and "now the timing is right to reinterpret the composer's four ballades".

In his latest album, Chopin: Ballades, Berceuse, Mazurkas, he performs the Opus 17 set of four mazurkas, the lullaby-style Berceuse (Op 57), and all four ballades.

"I just focused on the technical difficulty back then, but I didn't have the ability to deliver the poetic and dramatic qualities hidden in these ballades," the 33-year-old pianist says during an interview in Beijing.

"Now, I am at the stage of having better control of a music piece, technically, structurally and emotionally. I am able to interpret Chopin's most challenging works."

He spent two days in Berlin recording the new album. Ballade No 1 (in G minor) was written during Chopin's early days in Paris, which Li describes as "emotionally dramatic".

When the pianist played the second ballade (F major), he pictured himself sitting near a lake at night, listening to a bell sounding from afar.

The third piece (A-flat major) is the closest to a dance form among the four, while the F-minor finale, Li says, is the most technically challenging work－the composer's supreme masterpiece.

After releasing the album internationally in February, the pianist kicked off a two-month tour in more than 20 cities across the United States and Europe.

He will have nine shows in Japan by the end of the month, then return to China to play in six cities on the mainland in June and July, including a piano recital at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on July 13.

In September, Li released the album Chopin Precludes, which included studio recordings and performances that launched his ongoing project. Later this year, he will release another Chopin album, though he has not revealed any details.

"I also like works by other composers, but I find a personal affinity with the emotion delivered in Chopin's music. I have unlimited imagination about his music," Li says.

"He did just one thing in his short life, that is writing for the piano. I like that simple and focused attitude toward music."

Li also enjoys solitude, as the composer did. Despite his tight schedule, the pianist likes spending some time alone before performances, when he savors tea and listens to jazz.

The son of Chongqing steel workers, Li was introduced to the accordion at the age of 3, switching to the piano at 7.

He graduated from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and won a string of competitions, including the Stravinsky Youth Competition when he was 13 and the Utrecht Liszt competition at 17 before his famous win at the Chopin event.

So far, he has released 15 studio albums and enjoys pop star-like fame.

In November, Li faced a storm of controversy over a performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center, where the pianist suddenly stopped as if lost in the middle of the performance.

He later apologized for it on his Sina Weibo account, which has nearly 20 million followers, saying that the "mishap was caused by tiredness".

"I need to give myself some space and be quiet before performing. I was exhausted and hardly focused," he says. "For me, the chapter of the mistake has already passed. But it's a good reminder and I learned from it."

As a role model for China's 50 million youth studying classical music, Li says his passion for music will never change, although his ambition has expanded from being a great pianist to being a great pianist and a music educator.

Having given master classes worldwide during tours, he is also eager to popularize classical music in China.

"I want to share my musical experience with kids. Though they may not become professional musicians, they will benefit from playing music," he says.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn