Live at the Mariinsky (Live) George Li

• Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI: 32:
• 1 I. Allegro moderato 04:47
• 2 II. Menuetto 03:33
• 3 III. Finale. Presto 03:06
• Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 35, CT. 202:
• 4 I. Grave - Doppio movimento 07:38
• 5 II. Scherzo 06:28
• 6 III. Marche funèbre. Lento 09:03
• 7 IV. Finale. Presto 01:30
• Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943): Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42:
• 8 I. Theme (Andante) 00:57
• 9 Variation 1 (Poco piu mosso) 00:38
• 10 Variation 2 (L'istesso tempo) 00:34
• 11 Variation 3 (Tempo di Minuetto) 00:35
• 12 Variation 4 (Andante) 00:50
• 13 Variation 5 (Allegro ma non tanto) 00:20
• 14 Variation 6 (L'istesso tempo) 00:19
• 15 Variation 7 (Vivace) 00:30
• 16 Variation 8 (Adagio misterioso) 00:56
• 17 Variation 9 (Un poco piu mosso) 01:05
• 18 Variation 10 (Allegro scherzando) 00:32
• 19 Variation 11 (Allegro vivace) 00:19
• 20 Variation 12 (L'istesso tempo) 00:36
• 21 Variation 13 (Agitato) 00:31
• 22 Intermezzo 01:23
• 23 Variation 14 (Andante [come prima]) 00:55
• 24 Variation 15 (L'istesso tempo) 01:36
• 25 Variation 16 (Allegro vivace) 00:27
• 26 Variation 17 (Meno mosso) 00:49
• 27 Variation 18 (Allegro con brio) 00:29
• 28 Variation 19 (Piu mosso. Agitato) 00:25
• 29 Variation 20 (Piu mosso) 01:05
• 30 Coda (Andante) 01:53
• Franz Liszt (1811-1886): 6 Consolations, S. 172:
• 31 No. 3 in D-Flat Major 04:09
• Hungarian Rhapsodies, S. 244, R. 106:
• 32 No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor 10:43
• Total Runtime 01:08:41

Info for Live at the Mariinsky (Live)

This enthralling recital by the young American pianist George Li, silver medallist at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition, marks his recording debut and launches a new relationship with Warner Classics. Captured at a live performance in the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St Petersburg, it presents a dramatically conceived programme of works by Haydn, Chopin, Rachmaninov and Liszt: a descent into deep darkness; re-emergence into the light, and a concluding, boisterous celebration.

Li, now 21 years old, was born in Boston to music-loving parents who came to the USA from China. He started taking part in music competitions as a child and experienced something of an epiphany when, as a young teenager, he performed a Beethoven concerto with orchestra. As he told Pianist magazine: “All of a sudden I felt like I had entered a different world… It was a unique and amazing experience: for the first time I was feeling music a lot more emotionally, rather than just remembering the right notes and where to come in. Afterwards people were coming up to me and saying that listening to me had changed their lives. I was shocked. I didn’t know before that music had that kind of power. After that, I just wanted to be able to find that feeling again.”

George Li, piano

George Li
Praised by the Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command and depth of expression,” pianist George Li possesses brilliant virtuosity and effortless grace far beyond his years. He captured the Silver Medal at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition and was the recipient of the 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Recent and upcoming concerto highlights include performances with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, Hamburg Philharmonic with Manfred Honeck, a tour of Asia with the London Symphony Orchestra and Giandrea Noseda, St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, Philharmonia Orchestra with Long Yu, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Mälmo Symphony, Verbier Festival Orchestra, DSO Berlin, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Sydney Symphony and Frankfurt Radio Symphony. He frequently appears with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra, including performances at the Paris Philharmonie, Luxemburg Philharmonie, New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music, Graffenegg Festival and in various places throughout Russia.

Recital highlights include Carnegie Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, the Mariinsky Theatre, Munich’s Gasteig, the Louvre, Seoul Arts Center, Tokyo’s Asahi Hall and Musashino Hall, NCPA Beijing, Ravinia Festival, Lanaudiere Festival, Edinburgh Festival and Montreaux Festival.

An active chamber musician, George has performed chamber music with James Ehnes, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Benjamin Beilman, Kian Soltani, Pablo Ferrandez and Daniel Lozakovich.

George is an exclusive Warner Classics recording artist, with his debut album releasing in October 2017 which was recorded live from the Mariinsky.

George Li gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinway Hall at the age of ten and in 2011, performed for President Obama at the White House in an evening honoring Chancellor Angela Merkel. Among George’s many prizes, he was the First Prize winner of the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and a recipient of the 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award. George is currently in the Harvard University / New England Conservatory joint program, studying with Wha Kyung Byun.

Booklet for Live at the Mariinsky (Live)