Few young pianists are as blessed as Yundi Li‚ the 19­year­old Chinese pianist who won the 2000 International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Here‚ his unequivocal triumph is faithfully mirrored on his DG début album in performance after performance. Everything is naturally and enviably proportioned (a rare but necessary attribute in the ever­elusive Chopin)‚ everything fuelled alike by a style and poise way beyond his teenage years. The Third Sonata‚ in particular‚ could hardly be more incisively launched‚ or its second subject – among the most melting in all Chopin – given with a more stylish ease. The second movement Scherzo is‚ as the American critic James Huneker once had it‚ ‘vivacious and light as a harebell’. The Largo is a marvel of sustained repose and nobility while the concluding Presto is without even a hint of a superficial excitement too often inseparable from this great and equestrian finale. Yundi Li’s Andante spianato from Op 22 is magically contained‚ while the following Polonaise is imbued most unusually with grandeur and nobility as well as a more familiar sparkle. All three Etudes are‚ again‚ model performances without a hint of mastery for mastery’s sake‚ while the Nocturnes are most judiciously yet acutely characterised. The mounting stress in the central doppio movimento of Op 15 No 2 is individually caught‚ and in the Fantaisie­impromptu Yundi Li is as flawlessly attuned to central calm as to outer agitation. DG’s sound is of demonstration quality‚ but their presentation‚ with its talk of ‘super­stardom’ and numerous male model photos‚ rings alarm bells. Talent of such rare quality and poetic acumen demands every possible care and nurture if it is to remain untarnished.