Mendelssohn / Lee Yongkyu Lee CD

The Lieder ohne Wort by German composer Felix Mendelssohn used to be famous all over the world. There was a time when these 48 pieces, which appeared in eight cahiers between 1833 and 1850, were played, or at least attempted, in every cultured parlor where there stood a piano. Stylistically situated somewhere between Chopin and Schumann, these are short pieces that are too hard to play for everyone except the very gifted amateur, yet not spectacular enough for great concert halls, but they come into their own in the intimacy of the cultivated salon. Yongkyu Lee is a Korean pianist who now lives and works in Germany. Already as a young piano prodigy he attracted the attention of world-class pianists such as Martha Argerich and Alexis Weissenberg. Mr. Lee is a winner of major piano competitions all over the owrld. Today he divides his time between his native Korea where he teaches a piano class at Han-Yang University and his base in Germany from where he concertizes with major orchestras around the globe.