A young Shenzhen musician has won top prize in one of the world's most prestigious piano competitions.
Li Yundi, 18, dazzled judges and the audience at the Frederic Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, with his interpretation of the composer's E minor piano concerto on Thursday.
Li, who studied at Shenzhen Art School, had to compete against 98 other musicians during recitals over two weeks and then take on six finalists.
The competition is held every five years. He is the first pianist to be awarded the gold medal since 1985. Judges thought the winners of the competitions in 1990 and 1995 did not deserve the medal. Li also received US$25,000 (HK$195,000).
"Yundi called me at 7am and asked me to guess the result," his father, Li Chuan, said. "He told me he was thrilled when Alexander Kobrin of Russia, the second-runner up, lifted him up in the air immediately after the judges announced Ingrid Fliter of Argentina had come second," Mr Li said.
His wife, Zhang Xiaolu, was overwhelmed. "I'm very happy, but I had to calm her down," Mr Li said. Born in Chongqing, Sichuan, Yundi started accordion lessons at the Sichuan Children's Palace when four-years-old and switched to piano at seven.
His parents work for the Sichuan Chongqing Steel and Iron Company. The family moved to Shenzhen in 1995 after his father was posted to the firm's Guangzhou office as a deputy-director.
"No one in the family is a professional musician. We let him learn piano because we heard it could help develop the brain," Mr Li said, but he added that his wife was a music lover and a fan of classical ballet.
"Yundi is a very disciplined and devoted pianist. He practised six to eight hours a day," said Gao Hongxia, the wife of Yundi's piano teacher, Dan Zhaoyi, a renowned piano professor.
The teenager is expected to continue his music career in Germany or France. He has won several international prizes, including a gold medal at the Gina Bachauer Young Artists International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah. |
