Yingdi holds young GKJ audience totally spellbound

Yingdi holds young GKJ audience totally spellbound

Evi Mariani and Jim Read, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

How often do you leave a concert venue totally satisfied, with
hands still sore from clapping so enthusiastically?

It happened on Monday night when winner of the 7th Frans Liszt
Piano Competition Sun Yingdi delivered a spellbinding performance
full of pianistic fireworks at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (GKJ),
driving the sell-out audience to demand three encores after a
well-deserved standing ovation.

Playing six full-length pieces from memory, Yingdi opened the
concert with a warm-up by Mozart -- Sonata in C Major. The second
movement was very lyrical, with good articulation, while the
third was notable for its dazzling, crystal-clear arpeggios.

He continued with eerie, suspense-filled Scarbo (from Gaspard
de la Nuit) by French composer Ravel, whom Yingdi said was one of
his favorite composers.

The demonic gnome in Scarbo terrorizes the poet (on whose text
the music is based), changing shape, looming large and suddenly
vanishing.

It was brilliantly executed, the numerous technical challenges
provided by fast, repeated-note and running passages melting away
in Yingdi's capable hands. Impish arpeggios moved mercurially
from darkness to sheer joy in the twinkle of an eye, the entire
interpretation capturing the essential scariness of the piece.

The spell cast by Yingdi lasted until the third composition,
Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No.1, which created more or less the same
mood as the Ravel.

Yingdi imbued Mephisto with such tension that the audience was
left gasping for breath at the sheer audacity of it all.

Sudden mood swings were spiked with drama of a type
encountered in Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, as played by a
full symphony orchestra: You just knew that when it all went
calm, with a quiet interlude, a truly dramatic passage was just
around the corner.

The second half of the concert continued with three
composition by Liszt: Ballade No.2, Sonetto di Petrarca 104 and
Rhapsody Espagnole.

In the second half, the mood changed, from the demonic and
macabre to one of luxuriant romance.

With his superb piano technique, Yingdi took the audience by
storm on an exciting, sometimes adventurous journey. He played
the pieces so beautifully that sometimes just listening to them
left the audience, many of which were young music students,
breathless in admiration.

The hugely romantic tenor theme in the Ballade swept all
before it, while the brilliantly executed double-thirds in the
Sonetto were a wonder to behold.

Listening to Liszt, as interpreted by the young pianist from
Shanghai, was like going on a high without resorting to chemical
assistance.

When the Rhapsody ended, the normally reserved GKJ audience
broke into thunderous applause, with shouts of admiration.

Yingdi, who said he never gave less than two encores at his
concerts around the world, played one encore -- and then the
enthusiastic audience demanded another. The pieces were a
Schubert-Liszt transcription and a study by Scriabin.

Afterwards, GKJ director Marusya Nainggolan presented a
bouquet to Yingdi while GKJ staff opened the auditorium doors and
turned on the lights to allow people to leave.

But the audience tried their luck once more, their insistent
ovation demanding that the pianist take the stage again.

To the audience's relieved laughter, he complied. The last
encore was as enchanting as the first two.

Within seconds of the end of the concert, the backstage area
was packed with fans, many of them teenage girls. This was almost
like a rock concert: The girls were too polite to scream or throw
their underwear at Yingdi, but the enthusiasm was palpable as
they waited patiently in line for his autograph.

Looking tired but still smiling, the 25-year-old soloist, who
said he often felt the loneliness of the soloist traveling around
the world, signed away magnanimously, occasionally posing for
cell phone photos with groups of smiling teenagers.

Asked how long he practices each day, Yingdi said, "Only about
two to three hours" -- an astonishingly short time, considering
the sheer brilliance of his piano technique.

Quizzed further on possible pre-performance nerves, he gave a
very honest, yet candid reply, again surprising given the
enormous technical difficulty of his concert repertoire: "Why
should I be nervous?"

The concert at GKJ was the last in his Java tour (after
performances in Surabaya, Surakarta and Yogyakarta), arranged
under the auspices of Dutch cultural center Erasmus Huis, whose
auditorium is currently being renovated.

Indonesia can feel proud to have given Yingdi such recognition
at this early stage in his career, for he will surely become a
soloist with strong worldwide appeal, if indeed he is not
already.

The following day he was due to give a music workshop at
Pelita Harapan University before leaving for Hungary, the next
stage on an international tour in which he is captivating one
audience after another.