As a hot new generation of Chinese pianists, Liu Ziyu is widely regarded by the industry as the leader of China's "post-95" generation. In 2023, the tour and academic activities of pianist Liu Ziyu's return to China will be carried out smoothly and have received wide attention and praise from professionals and music fans in the industry. Now, Liu Ziyu's new round of tour plan in 2024 - "Prospect" officially opens with the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York, USA. On the night of January 8, the Carnegie ** Hall was full, and the young pianist from China conquered the Western audience with his unique performance charm, highlighting the artist's true colors with delicate and moving melodies, and won warm applause and high praise from the audience.
Born in 1998, as one of the most influential and outstanding pianists of his generation, Mr. Ali Wadi, a renowned pianist, commented on him: "Liu Ziyu is undoubtedly one of the most promising young artists, with star potential and immeasurable future. At the age of 21, he became the first Chinese pianist to win the Viotti International Competition, one of the nine founding competitions of the World League of the Geneva International Competition, breaking the record of the competition for 70 years. Now, in the new round of tour, Liu Ziyu will appear in major halls in more than ten cities in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, as well as go to the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Singapore and other countries to hold solo recitals.
As the first show of the new year in 2024, Liu Ziyu has repeatedly considered and carefully designed the repertoire, and the whole show will play three Western classics and two modern Chinese works. Composed in 1909, this work is the second piece in the first episode of the Prelude, and it is also Debussy's most distinctive and outstanding diatonic piece. Liu Ziyu's timbre under the touch of the fingers is hazy and soft, but also light and pure, and the control of weak music is delicate and subtle, and he gives full play to the diatonic fragment material, the use of oriental pentatonic scales, and the rich weak dynamics and hierarchical lines in the whole work, bringing the audience into the ethereal and mysterious artistic conception. The second piece is from another French impressionist composer Ravel's "Waltz", this work is a solo piano piece adapted from the symphony by the composer himself, so Liu Ziyu grasped the biggest feature of piano symphony in his interpretation, fully contrasted the timbre attributes of the piano, and changed the speed and strength of the keys to distinguish the graininess and coherence of the phrase before the performance, so that the whole work is expressed in a clear layer and smooth structure. The third piece is Mussorgsky's "Picture Exhibition", in which Liu Ziyu mentions that he wants to establish a deep intertextual relationship between the pieces, and the most famous version of the solo piano piece "Picture Exhibition" is a symphonic version arranged by Ravel. Liu Ziyu uses different titles as the first lead, through the contrast of strength, the grasp of rhythm, the vivid expression of the image and the high integration of playing skills, the audience involuntarily paints a vivid and interesting picture in their minds. When Liu Ziyu finished playing the last note heartily, the audience couldn't help but stand up and pay the highest respect to the performers with the most enthusiastic applause and cheers.
The most surprising part of this much-anticipated event for Western audiences was the focus on two modern Chinese works. One is the piano solo version of "Falling Flowers" composed by Mr. Ye Xiaogang, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, chairman of the China ** Home Association, and famous composer, and the other is the premiere of three "Meditation Songs" composed by the famous Chinese composer Mr. Zhang Chao.
"Falling Flowers" in the original mellow classical literature and art tone, the integration of Guangdong folk ** temperament and charm, the work leisurely and poignant exquisite artistic conception and Lingnan ** customs intuitively show the vast land of southern Guangdong, warm and rich life atmosphere. People were amazed by Liu Ziyu's perfect performance skills and deep and subtle expression, and also deeply experienced the unique charm of Chinese folk culture.
In addition to the painstaking research and wonderful presentation of Western works, Liu Ziyu has been committed to promoting excellent Chinese modern piano works to the world. His collaboration with Chinese composer Zhang Chao can be traced back to the European premiere of "Numa Ami" in 2020, which has attracted widespread attention inside and outside the industry, and in 2021, he was specially commissioned by Zhang Chao to record two tracks of "Pi Huang" and "Numa Ami" at the People's ** Publishing House, which has become an authoritative version that has been widely praised by the industry. This time, Liu Ziyu once again brought Mr. Zhang Chao's new works of three "Meditation Songs" - Sunshine, Moonlight and Snowflakes to the famous Carnegie Hall in New York for the first time. Liu Ziyu's expression of the two Chinese works is very easy, which is the expression of the strong emotions of the Chinese nation when he is in a foreign country, and the soul of the Chinese millennium culture. Once again, his performance won the long-lasting applause of all the audience.
This solo concert will integrate Chinese and Western cultures and arts, and Liu Ziyu will use deep and sincere language to realize the cultural combination of East and West, nation and world on a high-profile stage like Carnegie Hall, which is not only of great significance as the first stop of his 2024 tour, but also has an important impact on the inheritance and promotion of the development of Chinese and Western piano art. At the same time, this wonderful ** meeting was highly praised by many people in the industry, who said: "Only by listening to Liu Ziyu's ** meeting on the spot, can you appreciate the strength and personalized appeal of this new generation of Chinese pianists, which can not be fully conveyed in the network." "Liu Ziyu's performance reflects his comprehensive quality as one of the new generation of piano leaders, especially in Debussy's works, his ability to control weak tones and instantly grab the audience's attention is breathtaking! In this regard, pianist Liu Ziyu himself said: "I think it is a very meaningful thing to perform China's best works on the international stage, and at the same time, I feel extremely proud and proud." In the 2024 world tour, I will continue to take the promotion of the traditional culture of the Chinese nation as my own responsibility, actively promote excellent Chinese works, and let people all over the world hear more Chinese voices, which is what I should do as a Chinese leader. ”