EMI Classics Signs Chinese Pianist Yundi

First Release is the Complete Chopin Nocturnes

International Release: March 2010

5099960839121 (2CDs); 5099960839152 (Digital)

’ÄúYundi Li, the brilliant young Chinese pianist ’Ķ has proved a technically astounding pianist who is

by turns elegant and rambunctious, coolly expressive and white hot.’Äù (The New York Times)

EMI Classics has signed the ’Äúsuperlative young Chinese pianist’Äù* Yundi, formerly known as Yundi Li, winner of the 14th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Appropriately, Yundi’Äôs first EMI release will be the complete Chopin Nocturnes, released to commemorate the composer’Äôs 200th birthday in 2010. Yundi and EMI Classics together plan to record the complete works for solo piano by Chopin.


Stephen Johns, Vice President, A&R, EMI Classics, said, "We are extremely pleased to be welcoming Yundi to the EMI Classics label. Yundi's musicianship and artistry has already captivated audiences around the world, and his desire continually to seek new challenges mirrors our own ambitions to bring great music in new and innovative ways to a wide public. We are particularly excited by Yundi's championing of the music of Chopin and in this, his anniversary year."


Since the competition that catapulted Yundi onto the international stage, his recitals and appearances with orchestras in Europe, Asia and the United States have been hailed by critics extolling his precise, crystalline technique, keyboard fluidity and boundless enthusiasm. His personality and artistry appeal to audiences of all ages and he is an icon in his native China, where he has inspired millions of young people, who refer to him as the ’ÄúPrince of the Piano.’Äù He is equally the toast of national leaders and has been invited to perform for the Chinese Ambassador in Washington, D.C. and for the President of China, Hu Jin Tao at Government House in a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China.


Following a recital at the Salle Pleyel in 2009, the critic Gˆ©rard Mannoni said, ’ÄúWith Yundi Li, the sound is ’Ķ deep, radiant, warm, spacious, highlighted by a perfect use of silence, the element of language so often overlooked by musicians. An exceptional pianistic art’Ķ.’Äù And reviewing an earlier Liszt/Chopin recording, The Times wrote, ’ÄúYou can tell [he] has something beyond the dazzle of any new star. The secret? Partly ’Ķ it’Äôs his sense of flow. ’ĶThe other key component is the mastery won over his own finger power. ’ĶYundi Li already knows how to be subtle even when loud. And when he’Äôs restrained he glows with banked fires. ’Ķ Yundi Li is never reckless; there’Äôs always an artist in firm control, sculpting both tone and phrasing.’Äù


Yundi hails from Chongqing in the People’Äôs Republic of China, where he first learned to play the accordion and won first prize in a competition at the age of five. He switched to the piano at seven and subsequently studied with Dan Zhao Yi, one of China’Äôs most renowned piano teachers.


Yundi has performed with most of the major orchestras in North America, Europe, Russia, Israel and the Far East with conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Riccardo Chailly and Yuri Temirkanov. He has received particular distinction for his interpretations of concertos by Chopin, Liszt, Prokofiev, Ravel and Tchaikovsky. His recitals throughout North America, including New York’Äôs Carnegie Hall; England, including London’Äôs Queen Elizabeth Hall; France, including Paris’Äôs Thˆ©ˆ¢tre du Chˆ¢telet and Salle Pleyel; the Salzburg Festival; Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg and across Asia, have touched audiences and critics alike.


Yundi’Äôs association with EMI Classics and a move to new management are expressions of his ongoing commitment to performing at the top of his profession, using all means at his disposal to reach new audiences.


During 2010, his concerts include a Chopin Birthday Concert in Warsaw on March 1, recitals in Hong Kong, Beirut, Eindhoven, London (Royal Festival Hall), Dortmund, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Porto, Abu Dhabi, New York (Carnegie Hall), Paris, Frankfurt, Munich and Milan. Concerto engagements include dates with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra / Yannick Nˆ©zet-Sˆ©guin, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony.


A video clip of Yundi performing Chopin’Äôs Nocturne No. 2 from the new album is available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLzYwT9YT-c

’ÄúDeeply thoughtful and formidably virtuosic, he makes light work of [the concerto’Äôs]

nightmarish technical demands. ’Ķ The colossal first movement’Äôs combined development and cadenza is played with an authority that will make lesser mortals pale with envy and admiration.’Äù

(* Gramophone)

'Li's performances are characterized by a striking degree of finesse and tonal shading,

demonstrating a poetic sensibility rare in so youthful a musician. His bravura is equally imposing (Miami Herald)

YUNDI


Chopin: Complete Nocturnes
Release date: March 30, 2010
Order cut off: March 11, 2010


50999 6 08391 2 1
F233 08391 $14.99
2 CDs ’Äì full price


CROSSOVER CLASSICS (domestic release)
EMI Classics


’ÄúYundi Li, the brilliant young Chinese pianist ’Ķ has proved a technically astounding pianist who is by turns elegant and rambunctious, coolly expressive and white hot.’Äù (The New York Times)


Label debut of 25-year old Chinese pianist Yundi (formerly known as Yundi Li) who is devoting his career almost exclusively to Chopin. Yundi’Äôs first EMI release is the complete Chopin Nocturnes, released to commemorate the composer’Äôs 200th birthday this year.


In 2000, Yundi was the youngest-ever winner of the 14th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.


His next EMI Classics CD release is being planned for September 2010 and there are plans to record all of the composer’Äôs solo works for piano with Yundi.


Yundi is performing with Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the TSO on June 10th & 12th