Energy good but more structure needed in Li's Beethoven interpretations

Beethoven 3 Sonatas

Li Yundi

DG

A stern, unsmiling Li Yundi on the cover of his first album since returning to classical music giant Deutsche Grammophon sets the tone of his debut Beethoven recordings.

The 2000 Chopin competition winner, who is opening the new season of the Hong Kong Philharmonic this week, expresses restlessness in his reading of Beethoven's most celebrated piano sonatas. He hits the opening chord of Pathetique, for example, like a thunderbolt, which conveys more anger than pathos. The ensuing allegro, among the fastest ever recorded, features a fierce attack that is exciting. The famous cantabile sings like a Chopin nocturne, a brief respite before the tempestuous finale.

The contrast between silences and outbursts remains basically the same in the other two works. The reading is straightforward and offers little to support his promise of combining Beethoven's and Chinese philosophies, as stated in the CD booklet.

The serene Moonlight sonata is particularly bland. In Appassionata, the longest of the three, Li captures the composer's vigour by stepping up the hammering. Few can match his explosiveness while delivering the four-note motif before the first movement coda. Physical drive aside, a better structure and depth would lift his talent to greatness.

Oliver Chou