2010 is a big year in the classical music world, which is celebrating the 200th year since the birth of Chopin. I didn’t know much about Chopin until I met my Much Better Half, who plays some of his pieces on the piano. Some of Chopin’s pieces are absolutely delightful, and now I have a couple of playlists on my iPhone that are getting a lot of use.
You can read more about Chopin here. Chopin was obviously a marvelously talented, if high-strung, individual. Polish by birth but forced to live in France for most of his adult life, you hear a lot of wistful sadness in many of his tunes.
Anyway, armed with this new-found knowledge and appreciation for Chopin’s music, I could hardly help but buy some tickets when I saw a Chopin concert at Southbank Centre, by Yundi Li. Yundi burst on the classical music scene when he became the youngest pianist to win the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition at the age of 18 in the year 2000. Just to put that in perspective – when I was 18 I think I was trying to balance quarters on my elbow and catching them.
Anyway, the MBH and I headed out to Royal Festival Hall for Yundi’s concert. There were a number of Chopin-centric events on the calendar, but I picked this one in particular because a) the songlist was *all* Chopin, and b) it had several numbers that I particularly like.
First, I was shocked at the number of young Chinese (mostly female) fans in attendance. Based on when they were clapping, clearly these weren’t classical music fans so much as they Yundi Li fans; apparently he has reached pop idol celebrity status in China/Hong Kong. (My wife is Japanese, and isnt’ in her 20s, but thought Yundi was ‘cute’, so I guess his appeal extends beyond the 20-something Chinese female crowd). Regardless of the reason, it was great to see young people getting exposure to classical music.
Perhaps because his audiences are made up of more non-classical music fans, Yundi’s performance list comprised only all major, crowd-pleasing Chopin works – not an etude in sight! As a Chopin fan, I wouldn’t have minded having one or two lesser-known works on the list, but really I can’t complain: nearly all my favorites were played, and I guess there’s a reason why popular songs remain crowd favorites even after 200 years.
The setlist (click for audio file):
Nocturne in B flat minor, Op.9 No.1
Nocturne in E flat, Op.9 No.2
Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op.15 No.2
Nocturne in D flat, Op.27 No.2
Nocturne in C minor, Op.48 No.1
Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise Op.22: Part 1 & Part 2
Interval
4 Mazurkas, Op.33: No 1, No 2, No 3, No 4
Piano Sonata No.2, Op.35: (Marche funèbre) Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Polonaise in A flat, Op.53
Op. 9 No. 2 might be Chopin’s most famous nocturne – it’s one of the MBH’s favorite pieces to play on the piano, and she plays it beautifully – but I love Op.9 No. 1 (and yes, I’ve asked MBH to learn it !). Op. 9 No 2 was written when Chopin was just 20 years old; amazing that he was able to create such beautiful music that still has a tinge of sadness to it at such a young age.
Of the Op 15 nocturnes, No. 3 is probably the most famous, but No 2 is equally beautiful, but with more elaborate ornamental flourishes. Maybe because it’s slightly more technical, I find it lacks the emotional ‘pull’ of some of the other nocturnes.
Op 27 No 2 is beautiful. I can imagine the main melody line being played by a violin. Again, this piece has a deep, nostalgic feel to it.
Op 48 No 1 sounds a bit like Op 15 No 2 to me – slower, more delibrate, and it doesn’t quite have the emotional sadness that some of the other works have.
Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise brillante, Op.22 was originally written for both piano and orchestra, although it is often played only with piano. It is made up of two parts. Part one has a light, airy, almost dreamy feel to it. Part two starts off with a rising crescendo, moves into a light-hearted waltz-ish section, and it ends with another dramatic crescendo – a great way to end the first part of the evening’s performance.
After the interval came the Mazurkas. I hadn’t listened to Chopin’s Mazurkas all that much, but I have a new-found appreciation for them now. Mazurkas are based on traditional Polish dance songs; Chopin wrote almost 60 mazurkas. Polish by birth but unable to return to his home country, many of Chopin’s mazurkas manage to both be upbeat while still having an underlying tinge of sadness; one can imagine Chopin writing them while longing to return to his homeland. Of the Op. 33 mazurkas, I like No. 2, which has a happy, joyous waltzy feel to it.
Chopin only wrote 3 sonatas; Sonata No. 2 is his most famous. Sonata No. 2 has been described has ‘four wild children thrown together’, or words to that effect. I also kind of feel like the four pieces making up the sonata are not that closely connected, but overall it is still an emotional piece; the stormy, drumming opening theme of the first movement is extremely powerful. Sonata No. 2 is probably best known for the sombre, brooding,yet silently triumphant, 3rd movement, the ‘Funeral March’, which gives the entire sonata is nickname. This movement was played at state funerals for both John F. Kennedy and Brezhnev - and a famous English composer, Edward Elgar (the MBH and I just saw a short program on him last week) put the movement to full orchestra, which was played at Elgar’s funeral when he died the very next year.
And the evening ended with Polonaise in A flat, Op.53, the so-called ‘heroic’ polonaise. It is one of Chopin’s best-known pieces, and it is apparently one of Chopin’s hardest pieces to play. Chopin apparently wrote the piece while dreaming of a ‘free, powerful Poland’ – while dance-like in parts, the powerful, thundering octaves that are pounded out are very dramatic. The ending was marred only slightly by someone in the audience starting the applause a few measures too soon 
We had very good seats – only 3 rows from the front – and we were so close we could see him sweat and hear the sound of his foot hitting the pedals. I’ve heard that sound/acoustics-wise it’s actually better to be farther back from the stage for a classical music concert, but it was fun being to be so close to ’the action’. From this amateur’s viewpoint, I thought Yundi had a few mis-plays here and there, but he really does play with a lot of energy.
It was a great show, and Yundi even came out and gave two encores! We couldn’t here what the first encore was, maybe a Listz piece? And the secod piece I think was a native Chinese folktune; again we couldn’t hear what he said before playing. I can’t recall seeing encores at a classical music concert before (although I haven’t been to very many…).
The concert was great – and it didn’t end there! Yundi was signing autographs after the show (don’t recall seeing -that- before either). Thanks to our seats right near the exit we got in line towards the front; a good thing because the line quickly came to resemble the line you’d see at the DMV or something. So we picked up a copy of Yundi’s latest CD (Chopin’s Nocturnes) and we both ended up getting his autograph and photo to boot! (Wife got the CD signed, I had my program signed).
I’m already spoiled by having a superb piano player in the house, and she has already been a good influence on my learning to play the piano a bit – but we both loved the Yundi concert, I suspect we’ll be following his career going forward, and I for one am eager to practice more.
Update: I saw two reviews of Yundi’s concert. The Independent’s article was less than favorable, and was particularly harsh on the second-half of the performance, using words like ‘characterless and wishy-washy’. Ultimately the reviewer’s criticism is that Yundi (and maybe his handlers) were over-prioritizing his popularity at the expense and detriment to his obvious talent.
The Evening Standard’s piece was quite a bit more favorable; the reviewer also praised the nocturnes and also applauded the Grande polonaise and – interestingly – the Sonata.
Both reviwers made a point of noting the predominantly Chinese makeup of the audience. Obviously it was a rare and noteworthy occurance.
