Leading Chinese pianist’s comeback concert at home reportedly cancelled without notice
‘Piano prince’ Li Yundi has performed overseas, but not in China, since being detained briefly on a prostitution charge in 2021
Leading Chinese pianist Li Yundi’s planned comeback concert in China has been abruptly cancelled, according to reports in mainland Chinese media.
Li’s recital, “Yundi Plays Mozart: The Sonata Project 1”, on January 1, 2025 at the Hangzhou Grand Theatre in Hangzhou, eastern China, would have been the 42-year-old’s first performance in the country in three years, following a scandal that saw him detained by Beijing authorities on suspicion of patronising a prostitute in 2021.
But it was discovered on December 5 that online booking for the concert was unavailable. Theatre staff members noted that the performance was postponed because of scheduling issues, according to Chinese media.
It is unclear whether the concert will be rescheduled.
China’s “piano prince”, as Li was widely known, first gained international fame in 2000 after becoming the first Chinese pianist and youngest winner of the first prize in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, at age 18.
He subsequently made his debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall in June 2003 and became the first Chinese pianist to record live with the Berlin Philharmonic.
