Chopin's star to shine in Shanghai
- Source: Global Times
- [09:39 August 17 2010]
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Throughout the late 1990s, Li began establishing himself as a promising newcomer, making his mark in national and international competitions. After winning the Warsaw Piano Competition in 2000, Li began a world tour performing in major concert venues and appearing with some of the best musicians. He was a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Wolfgang Sawallisch, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Paavo J?rvi, and the French National Orchestra under Kurt Masur.
In 2007 he recorded Ravel and Prokofiev piano concertos with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Seiji Ozawa. The album went platinum within a month.
"Chopin is a very poetic composer whose music is, I think, very much in accordance with Chinese Confucianism, and with many of the famous ancient poets of China, such as Li Bai and Du Fu."
Li said that when playing the music of Chopin, he is always inspired to think of the poetic images in those poets' beautiful poems. "In my opinion, Chinese cultural heritage and its traditions can be expressed through the spirit of Chopin's music."
Li said that Chopin's nocturnes are his favorites. "These works took him a long time to create. We can now record Chopin's music and these pieces are open and understandable. I want to introduce them to people, especially young people."
The past decade has contributed to Li's maturing as a musician. He said he now has a better understanding of Chopin's music and knows, because of his age, how to approach it - many of Chopin's major pieces were created when he was aged around 30.
Li believes Chopin was a great contributor to the art of performance. He believes that when people study the piano, they should play the music of Chopin as often as possible. This will help them gain a comprehensive and systematic understanding of piano performance.
To introduce and spread more of Chopin's beautiful music to the world is Li's big dream.
"The most important thing is to keep the purity and spirit of the music. Classical music is pure and artistic, and the first thing you must know when learning and playing the piano, is that you must never be preoccupied or have distractions. For the development of classical musical art, there should be peace and quiet," he said.
Many in China, from professional music reviewers to ordinary people who enjoy classical music, like comparing Li with Lang Lang, another young world-famous pianist.
"We have very different styles. Lang Lang plays more passionately and emotionally, but I prefer playing peacefully and quietly like Chopin," Li said.
