GEORGE LI
LIVE AT THE MARIINSKY
Warner Classics 9029581294 / *****
George Li was the 19-year-old
Chinese American pianist who caught the imagination of pianophiles when he was
awarded the Silver Medal at the 2015 Tchaikovsky International Piano
Competition. This debut recording, of a 2016 live performance in St
Petersburg , offers a seemingly bog-standard programme,
meant to showcase a broad range of styles. However, his playing is anything but
boring or commonplace.
There is a crispness of
articulation in Haydn’s short Sonata No.32 in B minor, bringing much
lightness and wit. Passion comes to the fore in Chopin’s Sonata No.2 in
B flat minor (also known as the Funeral March Sonata), living up to
Schumann’s apt description of “four of Chopin’s wildest children bound
together”. In Rachmaninov’s late Corelli Variations, he brings a noble
and magisterial air.
To close, he combines
contemplative Liszt (Consolation No.3) with coruscating Liszt (Hungarian
Rhapsody No.2) completing this masterly 69-minute recital. The masterstroke
was his inclusion of Rachmaninov’s own discursive and almost-jazzy cadenza in
the latter, a daring display of individual spirit that is truly refreshing.
No comments:
Post a Comment