Musique ••• Classique, ITW ••• Siqian Li
Siqian Li: "The great piano repertoire of the 19th century? I didn't feel the need for it!"
Bla Bla Blog was captivated by pianist Siqian Li, author of a debut album, Voyage among Fragments. An eclectic work, ranging from classical to contemporary, including French songs. This choice intrigued us and made us want to meet Siqian Li. She was kind enough to answer our questions.
Bla Bla Blog – Hello, Siqian Li. Could you briefly introduce yourself? Where do you come from, and how would you describe your musical journey so far?
Siqian Li – I come from Chongqing, a beautiful mountain city in southwest China, where my musical journey first began. Since then, that journey has taken me across several countries and very different artistic worlds, from my early training in China to my years of study in the United States and the United Kingdom. Each place has shaped me in a different way. Looking back, my path has never felt like one straight line, but rather a series of encounters, places, and discoveries that have gradually formed the musician I am today.
BBB – You present a very international album in which French artists hold a prominent place. Maurice Ravel naturally comes to mind first. It seems to me that the general public has been rediscovering this composer in recent years. Doesn’t Ravel appear more modern than we might think?
SL – Yes I agree. I think Ravel can sound much more modern than people first imagine. We often associate him with elegance, refinement, and colour, which are all true, but beneath that there is also an extraordinary precision and a kind of emotional ambiguity that feels very contemporary. His music is never sentimental in an easy way; it is controlled, clear, and often slightly unsettling, even when it is beautiful. That is part of why he still speaks so strongly today. In a work like La valse, for example, you hear not only brilliance and sophistication, but also instability, tension, and transformation, and that makes him feel very close to our own time.
BBB – Your album also features, more surprisingly, Charles Trénet. Why did you choose these popular standards of French songs ?
SL – What drew me first was simply how mesmerised I was when I discovered this set of arrangements. Weissenberg takes Trénet’s chansons and transforms them with such imagination, wit, and pianistic brilliance, while somehow preserving their freshness and spontaneity. That immediately fascinated me. Choosing them for the album was also a conscious way of moving away from a fixed idea of how a classical album should sound. I wanted the repertoire to feel alive, surprising, full of character, and instantly engaging.
BBB – Pianists are known to be particularly fond of the 19th-century Romantic repertoire — Chopin, Brahms, or Schumann. Yet you did not make that choice. You even seem to favour piano transcriptions. Could you tell us more about the artistic choices behind this album’s programme?
SL – I have deep love and respect for the great 19th-century piano repertoire, but I didn’t feel the need for my first album to enter directly into a space that is already so richly and magnificently documented. Rather than asking what a debut album is expected to include, I wanted to ask what repertoire felt most truthful to my artistic voice at this moment. Transcriptions became central for that reason: at their best, they are not secondary versions, but re-imaginings that give familiar music a second life and reveal new colours, textures, and perspectives. That felt deeply connected to the spirit of Voyage among Fragments, an album about transformation, memory, and different worlds speaking to one another. So the programme grew from that idea: not from a desire to avoid tradition, but from a wish to engage with it in a more personal and living way.
"More Chinese musicians are no longer seen only through the lens of virtuosity"
BBB – Twentieth-century music is also represented, notably with George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. It is less frequently performed in its solo piano version than with orchestra. What were the main challenges in interpreting this work?
SL – I’ve performed both versions, and the solo piano version is actually more challenging in some ways, because you have to hold the entire sound world of the jazz orchestra under your hands: you’re responsible not only for the virtuosity, but also for the colour, rhythm, and sheer vitality of the piece. So technically it asks for enormous control and imagination. But that is also what makes it so enjoyable to play. Precisely because everything is in your hands, there is a tremendous sense of freedom: you can shape the pacing, the swing, and the contrasts very directly, almost as if you are becoming both pianist and orchestra at once.
BBB – You introduce us to some lesser-known composers — Franz von Vecsey, Nicolas Dalayrac, as well as your compatriot Wang-hua Chu. Why did you choose to include them in your programme? Do they share something in common?
SL – Although they come from very different worlds, each of them brings a voice that feels distinctive, intimate, and slightly off the expected path, and that was important to me. I wanted the programme to include not only familiar landmarks, but also works that might surprise the listener and open another emotional space. Dalayrac brings simplicity and tenderness, Vecsey a bittersweet elegance, and Wang-hua Chu a direct connection to my own musical roots. So what they share is not style, but a certain sincerity and individuality — each adds a different fragment to the journey of the album.
BBB – You are originally from China, a country that seems increasingly central to the future of classical and contemporary music — one thinks of Lang Lang or Yuja Wang. What is your perspective on this? And first of all, what do you think is the “secret” behind China’s ability to train such remarkably talented musicians?
SL – It is a difficult question, I think there is no single “secret.” China has a very strong culture of discipline, dedication, and respect for serious study, and that creates an environment where young musicians can build an extraordinary technical foundation very early. But technique alone is never enough. What matters just as much is how that foundation later opens into imagination, individuality, and a deeper artistic voice. I think what is exciting today is that more and more Chinese musicians are no longer seen only through the lens of virtuosity, but as artists with very distinct personalities and perspectives. For me, that is the most important development: not simply producing excellent pianists, but musicians who can contribute something personal to the global musical conversation.
BBB – What are your upcoming projects? A new album? Concert performances?
SL – I definitely hope to continue making albums, when the idea has had time to mature properly and feels artistically convincing. For me, recording has to grow out of a clear inner concept rather than simply becoming the next project. Alongside that, I’d love to explore more chamber music collaborations and more cross-cultural or cross-genre projects, where different artistic languages can genuinely meet. Concert performances will, of course, remain central, but I’m especially excited by the idea of building programmes and collaborations that open new spaces for dialogue and imagination.
BBB – Bla Bla Blog always enjoys discovering the tastes of the artists we meet. Could you tell us about your recent favourites — in music, of course, but also in books, exhibitions, films or series?
SL – Apart from classical music, my listening has been moving between very different worlds (Jazz, R&B, Pop etc.), though I’ve realised I probably have quite an old soul in my musical taste. I always return with great pleasure to artists like Art Tatum, Herbie Hancock, Eugen Cicero, Keith Jarrett, and Joan Baez, amongst others. More recently, I’ve also been very drawn to the cellist Abel Selaocoe, whose music has such rawness, freedom, and authenticity. Outside music, I’m deeply interested in ceramic art, not only as a viewer but also as a maker, which has become an important parallel practice for me. In books, I’m currently finishing Nightingale, and I’m generally drawn to historical fiction as well as more philosophical writing, such as Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. In visual art, I especially love the installations at the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection in Paris; that kind of immersive, atmospheric contemporary art speaks to me strongly. And in films or series, I tend to gravitate toward historical dramas and psychological thrillers.
BBB – Thank you.
Siqian Li, Voyage among Fragments, Sagitta Musica. 2026
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Also : "Siqian Li : 'Le grand répertoire pianistique du XIXe siècle ? je n’en ressentais pas le besoin !'"
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