Biography Yingdi Sun
First Prize winner at the 7th
International Franz Liszt Piano Competition 2005
Concert pianist
Yingdi Sun (b. 1980) won First Prize at the prestigious 7th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, which was held in Utrecht in 2005. By winning the prize he has embarked on a demanding international concert tour. For more than two years, this tour has taken him around the globe and included, in addition to many concerts in leading Dutch concert halls, performances in France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Finland, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, China, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.
Already on the morning after the Final of the Liszt Competition, Yingdi performed in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jean-Bernard Pommier. In the course of his concert tour, he has played with numerous leading orchestras including the Rotterdam Philharmonic (conducted by Michel Plasson), the Czech National Symphony Orchestra (with Daniel Raiskin), the Hong Kong Philharmonic (with Edo de Waart), l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (with Myung-Whun Chung), the Macao Orchestra (with András Ligeti), the Shanghai Opera Orchestra (with Zoltán Kocsis) and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (with Tan Dun).
In May 2006, Yingdi worked with conductor Stefan Asbury, playing Benjamin Britten’s piano concerto with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra during the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. The performance was highly praised by the famous musicologist Donald Mitchell, who had worked with Britten for more than twenty years. In August 2006, he performed in the Konzerthaus Berlin with maestro Muhai Tang and the orchestra from the Shanghai Conservatory. The Berliner Morgenpost wrote: “Yingdi Sun (25), the soloist for Mozart’s piano concerto appears to be a natural to dethrone his celebrated colleague Lang Lang – and he has the ability as well. His encore deeply moved the audience. He played Wagner in Liszt style: the Tannhäuser paraphrase, which had nearly signified the end for Liszt during a performance in Rome after numerous interruptions”.
In 2007 it continued to be busy for Yingdi, as he played with the Tampere Philhamonic Orchestra (conducted by Muhai Tang) and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (with Edo de Waart). This was followed by a very well-received recital tour through Europe and the United States titled “Pure Gold”, with the First Prize winner of the 7th International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Augustin Hadelich from Germany. More recently Yingdi performed in the Shanghai Concert Hall with the Shanghai Opera Orchestra under the baton of Zoltán Kocsis and was invited back to Hong Kong to play with Edo de Waart and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Among concerts in 2008, Yingdi has given his debut performance in Wigmore Hall and also appeared on the important stage of the World Expo in Zaragoza in Spain. Furthermore, Yingdi has continued his cooperation with the China National Symphony Orchestra as well as other important orchestras. Yingdi’s first commercial CD recorded for “the Brilliant Classic” label, has been released globally. Also in 2009, Yingdi is going to give performances of Tan Dun’s newly written piano concerto “the fire”, with the composer himself and he’s invited by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, to play Rachmaninoff’s great piece, the piano conceerto No.3.
The Shanghai-born Yingdi Sun was already winning prizes in his native China at an early age, including the Golden Bell Award at the Second National Piano Competition. In his own country, he was awarded the 'Bao Steel' Education Award and the Special Prize for Artists by the Shanghai government. With support from the Chinese Ministry of Culture and as part of the “Oriental Express Project” he went to New Zealand for a big concert tour and played in Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. In November 2005 he was the guest of the Chinese President HU Jintao as part of the festivities in honour of the visit of U.S. President George Bush to China. Yingdi Sun studied with Professor Sheng Yi-qi at the Conservatory of Music in Shanghai and has participated in the master classes of, amongst others, Philippe Entremont, Xu Zhong and Leslie Howard.
Press reviews
'Sun was the only pianist who flawlessly performed Liszt’s gruesome octave jumps and maintained the tension in both pieces to the very end.' (De Telegraaf)
'In both pieces, winner Sun proved to be the most inspired musician. His recital was distinguished by colour and elegance. His arpeggios sound like wistful clouds, with drops of mist shining individually.' (de Volkskrant)
'The jury awarded first prize to the Chinese pianist Sun Yingdi. Understandable, with Sun’s flawless precision, his clear and sparkling performance, and his ability to communicate actively with the orchestra. You could call his interpretations, ‘Liszt in primary colours.' (Utrechts Nieuwsblad)
'Winner Yingdi presented himself as the most stable finalist. He made a relaxed and solid impression with his fluent virtuoso interpretations, in which he emphasized in mild colour patterns the lyrical and poetic qualities of Liszt.' (NRC Handelsblad)
'Sun Yingdi made a highly convincing impression with his nimble playing, characterised by a seemingly unlimited technical mastery.' (Twentsche Courant Tubantia)
'He revealed the music’s profound expressivity, and clearly demonstrated an ability to move the listener. He emphasised dynamics in a striking manner and created a logical and coherent whole from the strongly contrasting movements.' (Brabants Dagblad)
'His playing betrays a phenomenal degree of knowledge of the piano as an instrument.' (De Gelderlander)
'Sun Yingdi’s fingers move across the keyboard faster than the eye can follow them; his left hand has the accuracy of a karate blow. His technique is totally flawless.' (De Stentor)
'Twenty-five-year-old Sun Yingdi scored above all with his unflagging technical mastery, which enabled him consistently to deliver octaves, chords and dyads with the power and precision of dumdum bullets.' (Piano News, Germany)
'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 Jakarta Post, Indonesia)
'With his superb piano technique, Yingdi took the audience by storm on an exciting, sometimes adventure journey. He played so beautifully that sometimes just listening to him left the audience, many of which were young music students, breathless in admiration.' (The Jakarta Post, Indonesia)
(Concert given on Liszt’s Steingraeber piano in
Bayreuth)
'Yingdi Sun brings to life even such a virtuoso’s nightmare as Liszt’s
'Sonetto di Petrarca' with an ease that one can only shake one’s head in
amazement.' (Nordbayerischer Kurier, Germany)
'He is a pianist who has a smart, clear brain, instead of
only having brilliant fingers. His playing is full of sense and
sensibility. Because he is involved in playing contemporary music, his
playing is very pleasant and vivid, very sensitive to rhythms. It's is
very rare among local pianists of his age.' (Shanghai Daily, China)
‘Yingdi Sun (25), the soloist for Mozart’s piano concerto appears to be
a natural to dethrone his celebrated colleague Lang Lang – and he has
the ability as well. His encore deeply moved the audience. He played
Wagner in Liszt style: the Tannhäuser paraphrase, which had nearly
signified the end for Liszt during a performance in Rome after numerous
interruptions.’ (Berliner Morgenpost, Germany)
‘Sun resisted the urge to be showy and made Liszt’s piano fantasy on the overture from Wagner’s opera “Tannhäuser” enjoyable. There were big moments but also calm ones. Even better, Sun’s playing emphasized the composer’s clever interweaving of three melodies from the opera.’ (the Indy Star, U.S.A.)
‘Sun pulled out all his skills in Liszt’s Overture to Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” for Solo Piano. He was purposeful and deliberate, virtuosic to say the least. In a work that often comes off as showy, he did justice to Liszt’s transcription of Wagner’s thick orchestration and immense sonorities.’ (the NUVO.net, U.S.A.)
“This remarkably cultivated young musician made very light of the prodigious technical demands of the work ‘Gaspard de la Nuit’, and drew us straight into a magical web of sound in Ondine, conjuring all the colours of an orchestral tone-poem. The chocs funebres of Le Gibet ranged marvellously from doleful to terrifying, and the elusive and grimly mischievous Scarbo was delivered with such musicianship that the actual business of virtuoso piano playing was completely subsumed in a purely musical drama. A riverting performance by an outstanding artist.”(Dr. Leslie Howard，U.K.)
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