YUNDI LI: BEETHOVEN EMPEROR CONCERTO SCHUMANN FANTASY by Yundi; Li, Yundi (Pianist); Harding, Daniel (Conductor) & The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra - 2014

European Union: Deutsche Grammophon (DG) , 2014. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. European Union: Deutsche Grammophon (DG) , 2014. Hardcover. As New/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 1 pages. Rare Yundi collectible item. A pristine copy of his "Beethoven Emperor Concerto Schumann Fantasy" CD recording with Deutsche Grammophon, signed by Yundi. The first release on CD by DG. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent releases, particularly the Japanese Edition. The first release is now scarce. Presents Yundi's "Beethoven Schumann". Stunning. Regrettably, the focus of virtually all reviews has been on the Beethoven. Yundi deserves credit for filling out the CD with a magnificent performance of the Schumann Fantasy in C Major, perhaps the most introspective work in the entire piano repertoire (even more so than Schumann's "Kreisleriana") , an underrated and under-played masterpiece because it is extremely difficult to pull off technically and interpretively. It is easy to forget or take for granted that while Chopin composed the saddest music the world will ever hear, it was Schumann who made introspection, "the inner life", the central character of High Romanticism. Yundi Li won the 2000 Warsaw International Chopin Piano Competition at the age of 18, the youngest ever in the competition's history (Maurizio Pollini was 19 when he won in 1960, the youngest winner for forty years until Yundi's Olympic feat) . Being the first Chinese - and second Asian, after Vietnamese Dang Thai Son, who won in 1980 - to win the world's greatest piano competition is obviously a distinct honor. Still, it does not quite adequately describe Yundi's vertiginous rise and standing in the world of Classical music. Simply put, China has the largest and most passionate piano culture in the world: There are 20 Million dead-serious Chinese piano students, whose one idol is Yundi, and whose one aspiration is to be the next Yundi. Even with a population that exceeds 2 billion, that is still a staggering number of pianists. Yundi is more popular in China than any film or rock star, local or foreign, and is its highest-paid living performer on record, commanding $2 Million for a sports-stadium-capacity performance. An absolute "must-have" collectible, not just memorabilia, item for Yundi collectors. This copy of the CD of "Yundi Li: Beethoven Emperor Concerto Schumann Fantasy" is very boldly and beautifully signed (in Chinese characters) in gold pen-marker in front by Yundi. It is signed directly on the cover itself. This title is a CD classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: As popular as he is, Yundi seldom does public signings. A rare signed copy thus. One of the greatest pianists of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER YUNDI, LEIF OVE ANDSNES, MAURIZIO POLLINI, ARCADI VOLODOS, EVGENY KISSIN, LANG LANG, JON NAKAMATSU, JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET, AND LARS VOGT TITLES IN OUR CATALOG).