Yundi Li (; born 7 October 1982), also mononymously known as Yundi (stylized as YUNDI), is a Chinese classical pianist. He is considered one of the most prominent contemporary interpreters of Frédéric Chopin and is also especially known for his interpretations of Franz Liszt and Sergei Prokofiev. He is the winner of the XIV International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland.
In 2000, at 18 years old, Yundi rose to fame for being the youngest pianist to ever win the International Chopin Piano Competition. In 2015, he also served as the competition's youngest-ever juror. In recognition to his contribution to Chopin pieces, the Polish government awarded Yundi with the world's first Chopin passport (Chopinowskie paszporty. Yundi is also the first Chinese recipient of both the Silver (2010) and Gold (2019) Gloria Artis Medals for Merit to Culture issued by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Polish government, in regards to his contribution to both music and Polish culture.
Yundi has promoted Chinese national music worldwide, as well as the development of classical music in China. In 2021, he was detained by Beijing police on allegations of soliciting prostitution and was subsequently removed from the Chinese Musicians' Association. In 2022, a document released by the United States Department of Justice stated that derogatory information about him "may have been manufactured". He resumed his performing career in 2023 with a comeback tour in Australia and has since returned to major international venues, including Carnegie Hall.
Early life and education Yundi Li was born in Chongqing, Sichuan, China on 7 October 1982. Both his father, Li Chuan (), and his mother, Zhang Xiaolu (), worked for the Chongqing Iron and Steel Company. Although his family was not musically inclined, he began a formal music education at a very young age. At age three, he was so interested in an accordion performance at a shopping mall that he refused to leave, and his parents subsequently bought him an accordion. He studied with Tan Jianmin, a local music teacher, learning the instrument so quickly that he won the top prize at the Chongqing Children's Accordion Competition in March 1987.
Yundi began studying piano with Wu Yong at the age of seven. Two years later, Wu introduced him to Dan Zhaoyi, a well-known piano teacher, with whom he studied for nine years. In 1994, Yundi enrolled at the to join Dan, who had recently taken up a position there, with whom he studied for the next six years. Yundi attracted interest from renowned schools of music, including the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School, and was invited to study at the latter by Jerome Lowenthal. From 2001 to 2006, he studied under Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover in Hannover, Germany. Career 2000–2009: Signing with Deutsche Grammophon Yundi has gained international recognition since winning the XIV International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000, where he became the first competitor to be awarded the first prize in 15 years since Stanislav Bunin won it in 1985. He was also the youngest competitor ever to win first prize, in addition to also being the first Chinese first-prize winner. Since then, he has collaborated with international orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
In 2001, Yundi became the first Chinese pianist signed by Deutsche Grammophon (DG), recording exclusively for DG until 2008. On December 19, 2001, his first album, Yundi Li: Chopin, was released globally from Beijing. In Japan, it sold 200,000 copies, and, in Hong Kong, it broke platinum sales within 10 days of release, for which it won the . In a review, Gramophone praised his DG début album for faithfully mirroring "his unequivocal triumph" in every recording: "Everything is naturally and enviably proportioned (a rare but necessary attribute in the ever-elusive Chopin)‚ everything fuelled alike by a style and poise way beyond his teenage years".
Yundi made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2003, performing in a concert celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Steinway & Sons. Bernard Holland of The New York Times wrote: "Yundi Li, a young but seasoned competition gladiator, played Chopin and Liszt with a promising mix of elegance and impetuosity." His orchestral debut in the United States took place the next month, when he played Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was also honored 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.
Deutsche Grammophon released Yundi's second recording, Yundi Li: Liszt, in August 2003, which was named among the "Best Classical CD's of the Year" by The New York Times. This album also won the German Echo Klassik Solistische Einspielung des Jahres () and the Chinese Gold Record Award, as well as nominated for Edison Award's Instrumentale Solorecitals (). Harris Goldsmith of Musical America wrote that it "includes perhaps the finest account of the B-minor Sonata I have ever heard—[it] 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 2004. Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times praised Yundi's recording for "white-hot virtuosity" and "uncanny clarity". Also in 2004, Yundi gave a recital at the Musikverein, Vienna, performing works by Mozart, Domenico Scarlatti, Robert Schumann, and Liszt.
In April 2004, Yundi completed his North American debut recital tour, which included sold-out performances in Boston, Vancouver, San Francisco, and New York. He made his New York recital debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 24 April, performing Chopin scherzos and the Liszt sonata, among other pieces. In a review of the 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." In May, Yundi gave concerts at the National Museum in Warsaw, representing cultural exchange between China and Poland.
In 2005, Yundi became the first Chinese pianist to appear on the cover of the Wall Street Journal and Aera magazine. He obtained Hong Kong residency in 2006 and was among the first group of successful applicants under the recently announced Quality Migrant Admission Scheme. In 2007, Yundi became the first Chinese pianist to record live with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa. Deutsche Grammophon released Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major, which garnered positive reviews—it was named Editor's Choice by Gramophone and praised by The New York Times as one of the best classical CDs of the year. Bryce Morrison of Gramophone wrote that "his performance of the Prokofiev, in its prodigious, unflagging power and brilliance, far surpasses any other in the catalogue".
Yundi is the subject of the 2008 documentary The Young Romantic: A Portrait of Yundi Li, 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". In 2008, he became the first Chinese pianist to have a wax sculpture at Madame Tussauds. The same year he appeared among Pennington Great Performers with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.
On 31 December 2008 and 1 January 2009, Yundi performed as a soloist at the National Centre for the Performing Arts New Year's Concert, playing the second and third movements of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with conductor Daniel Harding and the China National Symphony Orchestra, for which they received the warmest applause of the evening. As an encore, he performed a Chopin nocturne, a piece for which he was known. His recitals in South Korea on 15 February 2009 at Goyang Aram Nuri in Gyeonggi Province and on 18 February 2009 at the Seoul Arts Center marked six years since his last performance in the country, having spent the intervening period touring Europe and North America. The programme included works by Chopin, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and Wang Jianzhong's Five Yunnan Folk Songs. Regarding Pictures at an Exhibition, Yundi noted that because the piece was inspired by paintings, the performance should be vivid like observing an actual exhibition, expressing a variety of paintings marked by solemnity, confidence, sorrow, and gaiety. He also stated that he had long been a fan of Chinese folk music and works by contemporary Chinese composers, and he described the Five Yunnan Folk Songs as coming from China's most exotic region, Yunnan, a quality that he felt translated into the piece.
Additionally, the documentary The Young Romantic: A Portrait of Yundi Li was a top winner at the Gemini Awards in 2009. It won four awards: the Best Performing Arts Program, the Best Direction in a Performing Arts Program, the Best Photography, and the Best Picture Editing in a Comedy, Variety, or Performing Arts Program. It was also nominated for the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. 2010–2018: Signing with EMI Classics and return to Deutsche Grammophon
In 2010, Yundi signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics with plans to record Chopin's complete solo piano works.
Also in 2010, the Fryderyk Chopin Institute invited Yundi to perform at The Memory Recital of Chopin's Birth 200th Anniversary Concert, in celebration of Chopin's 200th birthday at Chopin Year. Yundi performed a solo recital at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 16 March 2010. He played a repertoire of Chopin pieces in a sold-out concert.
In May 2012, Yundi officially signed with Universal Music Group and collaborated with Deutsche Grammophon once again. Deutsche Grammophon released his recording of Beethoven sonatas in 2012. It was chosen as one of Classic FM's "Album of the Year 2013" and attained Platinum status in China. Yundi then released The Art of Yundi (2013), containing recordings of the Schumann Fantasie as well as Chopin preludes, ballades, berceuse, and mazurkas.
Yundi launched his "Piano Dream" national tour in Chongqing on 19 August 2013, and brought his music to 30 cities in the next 80 days. Most of those cities were second or third-tier, and in response to questions from media and public, Yundi said it was not demeaning for him to perform in second and third-tier cities and he did not 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.
On 1 March 2014, Yundi performed a piano recital at the Poland's National Philharmonic, celebrating the 204th anniversary of Chopin's birth. Anna Komorowska, then First Lady of Poland, attended the concert.