Li Yundi
Li Yundi was born in Chongqing, China on October 7th, 1982 and is the Pianist. At the age of 41, Li Yundi biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Li made his Carnegie Hall debut to great acclaim in June 2003, performing in a concert celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Steinway & Sons. Bernard Holland of the New York Times wrote about Li’s performance: “Yundi Li, a young but seasoned competition gladiator, played Chopin and Liszt with a promising mix of elegance and impetuosity.” His United States concert debut took place the next month, when he played Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was also honoured at a special reception at the home of the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, where he performed for various officials of the US State Department.
In 2001 Li became the first Chinese pianist signed by Deutsche Grammophon and had his first album “Yundi Li: Chopin” released on its label. The CD was first released in Japan and warmly welcomed. The Gramophone magazine reviewed this album: “ … his unequivocal triumph is faithfully mirrored on his DG début album in performance after performance. Everything is naturally and enviably proportioned (a rare but necessary attribute in the everelusive Chopin)‚ everything fuelled alike by a style and poise way beyond his teenage years…”
Li's second recording of Liszt on Deutsche Grammophon, for which he exclusively recorded until November 2008, was released in August 2003 and was named "Best CD of the Year" by The New York Times. This album also won the German Echo Album solo award, the Netherlands Edison Award, the Chinese Gold Record Award. Of this recording Harris Goldsmith of Musical America wrote:" (this recording) includes perhaps the finest account of the B-minor Sonata I have ever heard—is, if anything, light years ahead in patrician elegance: exquisite artistry from one of the greatest talents to surface in years—nay, decades." His third recording Chopin: Scherzi/Impromptus, comprising Chopin's four Scherzi and three Impromptus, was released in late 2004. Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times praised this recording for Li's "white-hot virtuosity" and "uncanny clarity". Deutsche Grammophon released his recording of Beethoven Sonatas in late 2012. This recording was chosen as one of Classic FM's "Album of the Year 2013" besides attaining Platinum status in China. He has also given a recital in the renowned Musikverein in Vienna, performing works by Mozart, Scarlatti, Schumann, and Liszt.
In April 2004 Li completed his North American debut recital tour which included sold-out performances in Boston, Vancouver, San Francisco and New York. Li made his New York recital debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 24, 2004, performing Chopin Scherzos and Liszt Sonata. Reviewing this recital, Allan Kozinn of the New York Times wrote:" Mr. Li deals in a more poetic, deeply considered pianism, delivered without extraneous gestures and body language. One thing Mr. Li showed was that thoughtful interpretation can be every bit as virtuosic and exciting as the showier variety."
Li obtained Hong Kong residency in November 2006, among the first group of successful applicants under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme
In 2007, Li became the first Chinese pianist to record live with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa. This Deutsche Grammophon release Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 and Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major garnered rave reviews and was a best seller. It was named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine and praised by The New York Times as one of the best classical CDs of the year.
Li is the subject of a 2008 feature-length documentary, "The Young Romantic: A Portrait of Yundi", directed by Barbara Willis Sweete. This documentary "captures the poetic intensity of this young virtuoso as he works with the great Maestro Seiji Ozawa to prepare for his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra..." Also in 2008, he appeared as a Pennington Great Performers series artist with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.
In January 2010, Li signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics with plans to record the complete works for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin.
Li performed a solo recital at the Royal Festival Hall in London on March 16, 2010. He played a repertoire of Chopin pieces in a sold-out concert.
In May 2012, Li officially signed with Universal Music Group and cooperated with Deutsche Grammophon once again. He then released recordings of Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Beethoven Emperor Concerto and Schumann Fantasie, The Art of Yundi, Chopin Prelude, and Chopin Ballades, Berceuse and Mazurkas.
Li launched his "Piano Dream" national tour in his hometown Chongqing on August 19, 2013, and brought his music to 30 cities in the next 80 days. Most of those cities were second or third tier. In response to questions from the media and the public, Li remarked that it was not degrading for him to perform in second & third tier cities and he didn't mind the less ideal conditions of some concert halls; he simply wanted to provide more people with an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of classical music.
In July 2015 and as featured guest soloist, Li embarked on a nine-concert tour with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States led by celebrated conductor Charles Dutoit. Comprising mainly the orchestra’s debut performances in Asia, the tour started at Purchase College’s Performing Arts Center and ended in Hong Kong. Carnegie Hall was the second stop. The other six concerts were given in Mainland China.
In May 2017, Li attended the opening ceremony of the Yundi Art Museum, located in the Chongqing Huangjueping Piano Museum. It displays several pianos from different stages of Li's career, including his first piano, as well as a collection of his awards, albums and photographs, and a high-tech experience pavilion.
From August 29 to September 5 in 2017, Li led the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra on a five-city concert tour in China, performing Chopin Concertos Nos. 1&2 as both the pianist and the conductor. It was Li's first time to pick up the baton. This tour was the first of a series of events commemorating the 100th anniversary of Poland's regained independence.
In November 2017, Li gave a tour playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K 488 with Staatskapelle Dresden in Germany and China. On November 3, Li performed in a live concert at Beijing National Aquatics Center celebrating the 2017 League of Legends World Championship.
2018 saw Li's successful debut in Australia and New Zealand. In a series of sold-out concerts, Li performed with local orchestras Chopin's Piano Concertos Nos. 1&2 both as a soloist and a conductor.
In December 2019, Li signed with Warner Classics. He soon released a new album on its label, Chopin’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, in January 2020. In this recording, he not only played the piano, but also conducted the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra from the piano bench. This album was chosen by Donald Vroon of the American Record Guide as one of the "Best of 2020". The International Piano Magazine reviewed this recording:" This is aristocratic Chopin, unfailing in its clarity, elegance and unforced eloquence. Nothing is over-played, everything is expressed. Yundi Li ranks among the finest, his reading of the F minor Concerto’s central love song hauntingly inward looking. The Warsaw Philharmonic offer stout support, and sound and balance are exemplary."
In 2021, he joined the cast of Call Me By Fire as a contestant. He was subsequently eliminated in episode 7, then returned in episode 10, only to be withdrawn after episode 11 in light of recent controversies.