Yundi Li releases recital of Chinese music on EMI
Yundi Li has recorded a disc of music associated with his native China for EMI Classics.
The Red Piano is the first release
by the young Chinese pianist to focus entirely on music from China, and includes a selection of virtuoso solo piano works based on traditional Chinese melodies and songs. The disc also includes the first recording of Pi Huang (Peking Opera), a new work by contemporary composer Zhang Zhao, written for and dedicated to Li.
The centrepiece is The Yellow River Piano Concerto, for which Li is joined by the China NCPA Concert Hall Orchestra under conductor Zuohuang Chen. Arranged by Yin Chengzong and Chu Wanghua, and based on the Yellow River Cantata by composer Xian Xinghai, it was first performed in 1969 and has since become one of the best-known works in the Chinese orchestral repertoire.
Also included are Zhang Zhao’s Remote Shangri-La, Ma Jingfeng and Zhang Nan’s Liu Yang River, Zhu Jian’er’s Celebrating our New Life, Ren Guang’s cycle of Five Yunnan Folk Songs, and arrangements of traditional Chinese folk songs.
Already available internationally, The Red Piano will be released in the United States on February 28.
