By Xinming Li, bostonese.com
Boston, June 20, 2015, — On the third day of auditions in the nomination “Piano” at the Tchaikovsky Competition on June 18, the sensation of the day was 19-year-old American pianist George Li. The highly artistic, masterful, and enchanting performance of the young pianist from Lexington, Mass. delighted the public. Li is a Harvard student, and posted a Happy Birthday Facebook update to his father Jian Li after his performance in the first round. And a Father’s Day gift came today as the results of Round I in the Piano category have been announced and George Li was among the 12 pianists making the cut as expected.
According to the competition’s official website, The following 12 contestants will advance to Round II of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition:
Redkin, Sergei; Mazo, Maria; Tetzloff, Reed; Rashkovsky, Ilya; Li, George; Debargue, Lucas; Geniušas, Lukas; Kharitonov, Daniel; Kociuban, Julia; Turpanov, Mikhail; Medvedev, Nikolay; Masleev, Dmitry.
In the first round, it is a tour of classical sonatas. Sonata form, like no other, reveals the main components of the talent of the pianist: hearing and intelligence, control and temperament, possession of sound and time. Music Marathon June 18 was marked by Beethoven: the great German was introduced in sonata cycle of all participants, and for the first four performances sounded all triad late sonatas of the composer, and difficult, ecstatic 32nd – twice.
Architecturally constructed in vertical and horizontal polyphony, George’s performance of the Prelude and Fugue in G minor from the second volume of the WTC created the illusion of auditory three-dimension. Mr. Li’s performance of Beethoven’s final sonata was a real work of art. Perfect possession of the instrument, the highest emotional intelligence and artistic charisma, phenomenal polyphony, and mathematically adjusted balance of voice and sound engineering construction of musical form; finally, a brilliant finger perlé and the royal ending – one was reminded of Arthur Rubinstein – it seems that George Li’s pianistic possibilities are endless. The Chromatic Etude by Chopin, which involves the technique of the fourth and fifth fingers, turned into a masterpiece of performing without much trouble, as Pushkin: “There’s the King passing captivates formidable king”. Li – certainly is one of the leaders in the first round.
“Today’s performance in the Great Hall of the Conservatory – an unforgettable and precious experience for me. It’s a terrific competition and I hope to stay there longer. From music performed today I am particularly close to Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. In Tchaikovsky’s music so much feeling, love, grace, and I tried very hard to convey today is what I feel in my heart, to the public”, said Li after his performance.
“Katie and I are very happy and George is preparing for tomorrow’s performance in Round 2,” wrote Mr. Jian Li in an email today. Will George Li’s performance on Father’s Day bring us more delight? You can watch Li’s performance in Round 2 live online at: www.medici.tv at 1:00 PM ET on Father’s Day.