The Much Better Half ™ and I saw Yundi Li’s Chopin recital last night at Royal Festival Hall.
First, I was shocked at the number of young Chinese (mostly female) fans in attendance. Based on when they were clapping, clearly these weren’t classical music fans so much as they Yundi Li fans; apparently he has reached pop idol celebrity status in China/Hong Kong. (My wife is Japanese, and isnt’ in her 20s, but thought Yundi was ‘cute’, so I guess his appeal extends beyond the 20-something Chinese female crowd). Regardless of the reason, it was great to see young people getting exposure to classical music.
Perhaps because his audiences are made up of more non-classical music fans, Yundi’s performance list comprised only all major, crowd-pleasing Chopin works - not an etude in sight 
As a Chopin fan, I wouldn’t have minded having one or two lesser-known works on the list, but really I can’t complain: nearly all my favorites were played, and I guess there’s a reason why popular songs remain crowd favorites even after 200 years.
The setlist:
Nocturne in B flat minor, Op.9 No.1
Nocturne in E flat, Op.9 No.2
Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op.15 No.2
Nocturne in D flat, Op.27 No.2
Nocturne in C minor, Op.48 No.1
Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise brillante, Op.22
Interval
4 Mazurkas, Op.33
Piano Sonata No.2 in B flat minor, Op.35 (Marche funèbre)
Polonaise in A flat, Op.53
Op. 9 No. 2 might be the most famous Nocturne - and it’s my wife’s favorite piece to play on the piano, and she plays it beautifully - but I love Op.9 No. 1 (and yes, I have the wife learning it 
)
Op. 27 No. 2 is lovely. I hadn’t listened to Chopin’s Mazurkas all that much, but I have a new-found appreciation for them now. And the Op. 53 Polonaise is truly ‘Heroic’!
Yundi was thrust into the classical world spotlight when he won the Chopin Competition in Warsaw at the age of 18 - the youngest winner ever. When I was 18, when I wasn’t thinking about girls, I was probably trying to balance quarters on my forearm and catch them… He had a few mis-plays here and there, but he really does play with a lot of energy. We had very good seats - only 3 rows from the front - and we were so close we could see him sweat and hear the sound of his foot hitting the pedals. I’ve heard that sound/acoustics-wise it’s actually better to be farther back from the stage for a classical music concert, but we like getting in ‘close to all the action’.
It was a great show, and Yundi even came out and gave two encores! We couldn’t here what the first encore was, I think maybe a Listz piece? And the secod piece I think was a native Chinese folktune; again we couldn’t hear what he said before playing. I can’t recall seeing encores at a classical music concert before (although I haven’t been to very many…).
The concert was great - and it didn’t end there! Yundi was signing autographs after the show (don’t recall seeing -that- before either). Thanks to our seats right near the exit we got in line towards the front; a good thing because the line quickly came to resemble the line you’d see at the DMV or something. So we picked up a copy of Yundi’s latest CD (Chopin’s Nocturnes) and we both ended up getting his autograph and photo to boot! (Wife got the CD signed, I had my program signed).
I don’t know enough about classical music to give any opinion on Yundi’s playing (heck, I think my wife’s playing is so good I think she could have played professionally). But the concert overall was a fantastic experience, and I’ll definitely be following Yundi Li’s career going forward.