Music on Thursdays
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Thursday
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Yuzhang Li
piano
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Partita No 2 BWV 826 (1727)
I Sinfonia
II Allemande
III Courante
IV Sarabande
V Rondeau
VI Capriccio
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
from Ten Preludes Op 23 (1923)
No 1 in F♯ minor Largo
No 2 in B♭ major Maestoso
No 3 in D minor Tempo di minuetto
No 4 in D major Andante cantabile
No 5 in G minor Alla marcia
No 6 in E♭ major Andante
No 7 in C minor Allegro
Concert duration approx: 40 minutes
Please donate to help fund these concerts at: cafdonate.cafonline.org/14455
Yuzhang Li
23-year-old Chinese Pianist Yuzhang Li was one of the ten semi-finalists in the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2021 and a Medallist in the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in 2022. Her performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 4 with Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, after winning the First Prize in Futian Cup Piano Competition, was highly praised by Maestro Lang Lang, and reviewed by Shenzhen News as ‘A performance of such composed manner and
maturity that exceedingly surpassed our expectation’.
At the age of 14, Yuzhang performed a full set of Étude Tableaux by Rachmaninov in her first recital. Now as a concert pianist, Yuzhang performs in Europe and Asia extensively both solo and chamber music. Her major performance engagements include concerts at the Royal Academy of Music and the Steinway Hall in London, Bechstein KONZERTFLÜGEL in Germany, Yongsan Concert Hall in South Korea, and Central Conservatory, Sichuan Conservatory, Shenzhen Concert Hall, and HUAFA Performance Theatre in China.
In addition to appearances in the recent international competitions and concerts, she has received recognition from other competitions throughout the years and collected some top prizes, including second prize in the Steinway Piano Competition in 2019, second prize in the “Grotrian” International Piano Competition in 2017, the Special Performance Award in the Wiesbaden International Piano Competition in 2016, and the first prize of the Seiler Cup Piano Competition in 2015.
Scholarships and titles she garnered also indicated her all-round development in musical life. In 2019, Yuzhang was awarded the China National Scholarship, resulting from her excellent performance in both piano playing and academic study.
In 2021, she was given a full scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music and became an ABRSM Scholar. In 2023, she was selected as a Tillett Artist, receiving support from the Tillett Trust. Yuzhang was admitted by the best mark to the Central Conservatory in China in 2017, studying with Professor Danwen Wei and Jiajia Shi. After graduating top of the class, Yuzhang started studying at the Royal Academy of Music with Professor Ian Fountain in 2021.
maturity that exceedingly surpassed our expectation’.
At the age of 14, Yuzhang performed a full set of Étude Tableaux by Rachmaninov in her first recital. Now as a concert pianist, Yuzhang performs in Europe and Asia extensively both solo and chamber music. Her major performance engagements include concerts at the Royal Academy of Music and the Steinway Hall in London, Bechstein KONZERTFLÜGEL in Germany, Yongsan Concert Hall in South Korea, and Central Conservatory, Sichuan Conservatory, Shenzhen Concert Hall, and HUAFA Performance Theatre in China.
In addition to appearances in the recent international competitions and concerts, she has received recognition from other competitions throughout the years and collected some top prizes, including second prize in the Steinway Piano Competition in 2019, second prize in the “Grotrian” International Piano Competition in 2017, the Special Performance Award in the Wiesbaden International Piano Competition in 2016, and the first prize of the Seiler Cup Piano Competition in 2015.
Scholarships and titles she garnered also indicated her all-round development in musical life. In 2019, Yuzhang was awarded the China National Scholarship, resulting from her excellent performance in both piano playing and academic study.
In 2021, she was given a full scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music and became an ABRSM Scholar. In 2023, she was selected as a Tillett Artist, receiving support from the Tillett Trust. Yuzhang was admitted by the best mark to the Central Conservatory in China in 2017, studying with Professor Danwen Wei and Jiajia Shi. After graduating top of the class, Yuzhang started studying at the Royal Academy of Music with Professor Ian Fountain in 2021.
Recordings of the works in today's concert
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Partita No 2 BWV 826 (1727)
I Sinfonia
II Allemande
III Courante
IV Sarabande
V Rondeau
VI Capriccio
Our recording is on clavichord. Is that revolutionary? Wim Winters doesn't think so. As you listen to the clarity of the notes and chords here you may come to agree with him. In many ways the clavichord provides a purer experience than either the harpsichord or the piano. Heer Winters' contention is that these pieces were written for personal practice and learning rather than for public performance. If he's right, then the smaller sound of the clavichord would make it the appropriate instrument.
Here he plays on a quite excellent 2009 clavichord by Joris Potvlieghe. So what is a clavichord? The strings are struck by a nail - "the clavi" of the name, although these days it is a much refined nail. The instrument only sounds while the nail is in touch with the string. No contact, no sound. The player can play expressively, and runs and chords are both possible, as you can hear from the lovely opening chord.
Watching Wim's left hand at the start of the Andante there is a very clear sense of the bass line "walking" which is the meaning of andante. In the "Courante" there is plenty of running, too.
Partita No 2 BWV 826 (1727)
I Sinfonia
II Allemande
III Courante
IV Sarabande
V Rondeau
VI Capriccio
Our recording is on clavichord. Is that revolutionary? Wim Winters doesn't think so. As you listen to the clarity of the notes and chords here you may come to agree with him. In many ways the clavichord provides a purer experience than either the harpsichord or the piano. Heer Winters' contention is that these pieces were written for personal practice and learning rather than for public performance. If he's right, then the smaller sound of the clavichord would make it the appropriate instrument.
Here he plays on a quite excellent 2009 clavichord by Joris Potvlieghe. So what is a clavichord? The strings are struck by a nail - "the clavi" of the name, although these days it is a much refined nail. The instrument only sounds while the nail is in touch with the string. No contact, no sound. The player can play expressively, and runs and chords are both possible, as you can hear from the lovely opening chord.
Watching Wim's left hand at the start of the Andante there is a very clear sense of the bass line "walking" which is the meaning of andante. In the "Courante" there is plenty of running, too.
Having said so much in favour of the clavichord, Wim admits to liking Glenn Gould's piano performance! We had better offer you that experience too.
And, just as an aside, here is Glenn Gould choosing a piano:
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
from Ten Preludes Op 23 (1923)
No 1 in F♯ minor Largo
No 2 in B♭ major Maestoso
No 3 in D minor Tempo di minuetto
No 4 in D major Andante cantabile
No 5 in G minor Alla marcia
No 6 in E♭ major Andante
No 7 in C minor Allegro
In this all-Rachmaninoff recording, Nikolai Lugansky completes the set of Ten Preludes with:
No 8 in A♭ major Allegro vivace
No 9 in E♭ minor Presto
No 10 in G♭ major Largo
He then goes on to perform:
Variations on a theme by Corelli Op 42
Theme. Andante
Variation 1. Poco piu mosso
Variation 2. L'istesso tempo
Variation 3. Tempo di Minuetto
Variation 4. Andante
Variation 5. Allegro (ma non tanto)
Variation 6. L'istesso tempo
Variation 7. Vivace
Variation 8. Adagio misterioso
Variation 9. Un poco piu mosso
Variation 10. Allegro scherzando
Variation 11. Allegro vivace
Variation 12. L'istesso tempo
Variation 13. Agitato
Intermezzo
Variation 14. Andante (come prima) (D♭ major)
Variation 15. L'istesso tempo (D♭ major)
Variation 16. Allegro vivace
Variation 17. Meno mosso
Variation 18. Allegro con brio
Variation 19. Piu mosso. Agitato
Variation 20. Piu mosso
Coda. Andante
Rachmaninoff found playing all these variations tedious. So he had a ruse. If the audience started coughing he would skip a Variation. In one small town where the coughing was particularly bad he only played them 10 Variations! He reckoned the most he had ever performed in a concert was 18, in New York.
Lugansky finishes with the 1917 Études-Tableaux Op 39 (Study Paintings) which are certainly worth hearing even if you have not yet become a Rachmaninoff devotee!
No 1 Allegro agitato in C minor
No 2 Lento assai in A minor "The Sea and the Seagulls"
No 3 Allegro molto in F♯ minor
No 4 Allegro assai in B minor - a gavotte
No 5 Appassionato in E♭ minor
No 6 Allegro in A minor "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf"
No 7 Lento lugubre in C minor
No 8 Allegro moderato in D minor
No 9 Allegro moderato. Tempo di marcia in D major
Previous concert
24 August 2023 - Thomas Ang, piano plays Clara Schumann & Medtner- click here
Next concert
7 September 2023 - Yeo Yat-Soon, harpsichord, William Byrd & contemporaries - click here
