Yundi Li - Liszt & Chopin: Piano Concertos No. 1 (2006)

To give Yundi Li his due in this coupling of Liszt and Chopin's first piano concertos, the young Chinese pianist does have a first-rate technique fully able to handle anything that either work throws at him. But while being able to play the notes counts for a lot in Liszt and Chopin, being able to play the music counts for even more. So while one is constantly amazed by the strength and control of Li's playing -- double or triple trills, thirty-second or sixty-fourth note runs, 9- or 10-note chords, double octaves, or even double octaves in contrary motion, whatever it is, Li can do it with both hands figuratively tied behind his back -- one is constantly astounded by his seeming lack of understanding of the music. The heroic panache and sensual beauty of Liszt and the emotional intensity and lyric ecstasy of Chopin are entirely missing from his interpretations; indeed, so entirely missing that it is difficult to talk about interpretations at all. Rather, it feels like one ought to be checking off Li's performance against the score and grading him as one would a gymnast or a figure skater. And while this is meant as no slight against those deeply talented and highly trained athletes, there is an aesthetic difference between a double axel and a double octave. DG's digital sound is clattery, rattley, and altogether too close for comfort. -- James Leonard