In 2025, I officially dove into the world of live concerts. Looking back, I attended exactly 12 performances over the course of the year! Here is a brief record of the concerts I went to. All reviews are based on my personal opinion.
For most of the shows mentioned, I have included links to NetEase Cloud Music playlists I created so you can listen while you read.
First, I'd like to share my personal favorites of the year:
👑 Top Favorites
András Schiff Piano Recital: Classical music omakase. A beautiful afternoon I'll carry with me for a long time.
Lang Lang Piano Recital: Who couldn't love Lang Lang? The pinnacle of technique and stage presence: proof that a great live performance is something recordings can never replace.
Hayato Sumino Piano Recital: A concert that actually cured a fever. He weaves jazz and contemporary elements into classical music in a way that makes études feel like electronic music: all energy and youth.
🌟 Most Unique Experience
Paris, Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre: In a centuries-old church in a foreign city, listening to a warm and intimate recital by candlelight (imagined candlelight, anyway). Not something you can easily replicate.
2025.01.01 | András Schiff Piano Recital
National Centre for the Performing Arts — Schiff in concert
💬 Echoes | Classical Music Omakase
One of my favorite concerts of the year.
I first heard about it through a recommendation on Xiaohongshu: “Schiff is a living legend among pianists.” “He often doesn't announce the program in advance — you open the box when you arrive.” “You really should go.”
No setlist published beforehand, repertoire revealed only at the start — a kind of classical music omakase, full of mystery and surprise. That approach was completely new to me.
The whole concert was extraordinary. I was hearing most of these pieces for the first time (I'll admit it: I'm still a classical novice), but I was completely absorbed in the world Schiff created. The Mozart and Schubert stood out most. And the encore — a full seven pieces — was an unexpected gift.
Whatever else I could say: this is an afternoon I'll return to in memory for the rest of my life.
Some of the pieces from that afternoon have since become my favorite classical music. Whenever I play the setlist back, something in me quietly settles, and I find that warmth again.
PS: A small subplot — I made a detour to buy coffee before the concert and almost didn't make it, running through the subway station with Liang. It's become a funny memory.
🎹 Program
📅 Wednesday, January 1, 2025 · 14:30
📍 National Centre for the Performing Arts, Concert Hall
🎧 NetEase Music playlist
Bach: Goldberg Variations — Aria
Bach: Capriccio on the Departure of a Beloved Brother, BWV 992
Mozart: Piano Sonata No.17 in B♭ major, K.570
Haydn: Piano Sonata No.62 in E♭ major, Hob.XVI/52
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.30 in E major, Op.109
— Intermission —
Schubert: Piano Sonata in G major, D.894
— Encore —
Schubert: Allegretto in C minor, D.915
Schubert: Hungarian Melody, D.817
Schubert: Impromptu in G♭ major, Op.90 No.3
Schubert: Moment Musical
Schubert: Impromptu, D.946 No.1
Schubert: Impromptu, D.935 No.2
Schumann: The Merry Peasant
2025.02.28 | Claudia Yang Piano Recital
Beijing Concert Hall — Claudia Yang in concert
💬 Echoes | Warm and Easygoing
My last visit to Beijing Concert Hall was for a symphony. This recital covered lots of beloved repertoire — and I heard a piano arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue live for the first time. (Kiwi the cat is a fan of that one :)
The whole atmosphere was relaxed and warm; you could feel the performer's genuine ease with the audience. A concert that sends you home in a good mood.
Tchaikovsky's ballet music is something most Chinese people know from an early age — I kept recognizing melodies I hadn't consciously thought of in years.
Even with a smaller ensemble, the emotional energy was real and strong.
Overture / Lilac Fairy Waltz / Wedding Pas de Deux / Grand Waltz
The Nutcracker Suite
March / Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy / Trepak / Arabian Dance / Chinese Dance / Dance of the Mirlitons / Waltz of the Flowers / Pas de Deux
— Intermission —
Swan Lake Suite
Overture / Scene (Act II) / Waltz / Dance of the Four Little Swans / Czardas / Spanish Dance / Neapolitan Dance / Mazurka / Scene (Act IV) / Finale
2025.04.26 | Your Lie in April Concert
Your Lie in April concert
💬 Echoes | Anime Fans Love Classical Music Too
Lots of signature Chopin — the first Ballade, the Fantasie Impromptu. The audience was packed with anime fans, and their shared energy for both Japanese animation and western classical music was genuinely touching. The performer was young and clearly an extrovert (very much an “E person,” as we say) — great stage presence, warm and engaging.
🎹 Program
📅 Saturday, April 26, 2025 · 19:30
📍 National Library Art Center
🎧 NetEase Music playlist
Chopin: Fantasie Impromptu in C♯ minor, Op.66
Chopin: Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op.23
Kreisler: Liebesfreud (Love's Joy)
Debussy: Clair de lune
Beethoven: “Moonlight” Sonata, III. Presto agitato
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No.9 in A major “Kreutzer,” I. Adagio sostenuto
Chopin: Étude Op.25 No.11 “Winter Wind”
Chopin: Étude Op.10 No.3 “Tristesse”
Chopin: Étude Op.25 No.5
Chopin: Étude Op.10 No.4 “Torrent”
Chopin: Étude Op.10 No.12 “Revolutionary”
Mozart: 12 Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman”
Beethoven: “Appassionata” Sonata, III. Allegro ma non troppo
Saint-Saëns: Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
2025.05.08 | Paris — Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre Piano Recital
The concert inside the churchClose-up of the piano inside the church
💬 Echoes | A Real Church Concert
Traveling in Paris, I had an impulse: since I'm in Europe, why not go to a proper local concert? I booked a small piano recital at the Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre through Classictic — €29 per ticket online. Arrived at the door to find walk-in tickets going for €25. 😂
The church is intimate; you can sit wherever you like. The audience was mostly older locals from the neighborhood. The program was lovely — Chopin's first Ballade, Schubert Impromptus — and the atmosphere was warm and genuine.
One mystery: the performer was an Asian young man who looked nothing like the person on the poster. When the concert ended, I saw the person from the poster standing near the exit next to the performer. A teacher-student arrangement? Does anyone know what was going on there? orz
🎹 Program
📅 Thursday, May 8, 2025 · 19:00
📍 Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, Paris, France
2025.05.23 | Trio Wanderer Chamber Music Concert
Beijing Concert Hall — Trio Wanderer in concert
💬 Echoes | The Joy of Chamber Music
“Young people should listen to more chamber music.”
This was my first time hearing the Archduke Trio live. Beethoven, famously, was completely deaf by the time of its premiere — yet he reportedly insisted on playing the piano part himself. Knowing that while listening brought me to tears.
In the second half, the pianist accidentally picked up the wrong score and started playing the opening of the Archduke again. The hall broke into laughter and applause. Perfect.
A night like this — how could you not fall in love with chamber music.
Beethoven: Piano Trio in B♭ major “Archduke,” Op.97
— Encore —
Dvořák: Piano Trio No.4 in E minor “Dumky,” VI. Lento maestoso
Haydn: Piano Trio No.39 in G major “Gypsy Rondo,” III. Finale
2025.05.28 | Lang Lang Piano Recital
National Centre for the Performing Arts — Lang Lang in concert
💬 Echoes | Lang Lang's Musical Magic
Seeing Lang Lang live for the first time. Dream fulfilled. One of my favorite concerts of the year.
I'd done a lot of preparation — listened to the pieces beforehand, read up on them. In the hall, every single one held me completely. Lang Lang has something that's hard to name: even a technically simple piece becomes breathtaking under his hands.
When the first half ended, I thought maybe 25 minutes had passed. Liang told me it had been 50. Music really does suspend time.
The closing Chopin Polonaise in F♯ minor — extraordinary. I thought of a comment I'd seen online: Imagine a Chopin who never had tuberculosis. A Chopin who spent his time off the piano working out and playing basketball. The Polonaises that Chopin would've written in that parallel universe — they'd sound exactly like this. I couldn't agree more. I felt very lucky to hear it played that way in person.
The encore pieces — Carnaval, Liebestraum — were beautiful too. Then the very last piece turned out to be “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” from The Lion King. Something about it unlocked a scattering of childhood memories, and I found myself in tears.
The crowd behavior that night was honestly the worst I've seen all year. Worth it completely.
2025.07.09 | Ken Nagano, Rafał Blechacz & Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra
National Centre for the Performing Arts — Hamburg Philharmonic in concert
💬 Echoes | This Is Orchestra
Stole an evening away from a busy stretch to come to this one.
The Mozart concerto felt a little soft to me — especially the first movement, which left me slightly underwhelmed. But everything else was excellent.
The sheer scale of a full orchestra is a completely different experience from a solo recital. One feels vast and communal; the other intimate and personal. Both are irreplaceable.
🎹 Program
📅 Wednesday, July 9, 2025 · 19:30
📍 National Centre for the Performing Arts, Concert Hall
🎧 NetEase Music playlist
Bach/Mozart: Prelude and Fugue in D minor, KV 405/4
Mozart: Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor, K.491 (soloist: Rafał Blechacz)
Solo Encore: Chopin: Mazurka, Op.17 No.4
— Intermission —
Brahms: Symphony No.4 in E minor, Op.98
— Encore —
Ligeti: Romanian Concerto, IV. Molto vivace
Brahms: Hungarian Dance No.5
2025.08.22 | Christian Blackshaw Piano Recital
National Centre for the Performing Arts — Christian Blackshaw in concert
💬 Echoes | You Need Schubert More Than You Know
The overall impression: restrained brilliance. Afterward I kept thinking of a title from one of Jiao Yuanpu's programs: “You need Schubert more than you know.” That feeling — wordless and affecting.
A Xiaohongshu post I came across captured the concert well:
“Setting aside small imperfections: throughout the evening, Blackshaw's touch remained warm and spacious, with an elegant restraint — there was something of the old English gentleman's ceremonial quality in his manner, alongside a hint of a 'shadow aesthetic': not flashy, but deep-layered, measured, his sharpness folded into the texture of the tone.”
“In a way, the imperfections can be absorbed by the larger aesthetic — Mozart emerging with the dignity of order, Schumann's dream made credible, Schubert's night carrying its own faint light.” (original post)
🎹 Program
📅 Friday, August 22, 2025 · 19:30
📍 National Centre for the Performing Arts, Concert Hall
🎧 NetEase Music playlist
Mozart: Piano Sonata in B♭ major, K.570
Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op.12
— Intermission —
Schubert: Piano Sonata in C minor, D.958
— Encore —
Schubert: Impromptus D.899 No.3
Chopin: Mazurka Op.24 No.1
Bach: Sarabande from Partita No.1, BWV 825
2025.10.21 | Hayato Sumino Piano Recital
Hayato Sumino in concert
💬 Echoes | Music Actually Cures Headaches
I had a flu and fever that night. The headache disappeared while the music was playing.
Cateen's (Hayato Sumino's) own nocturne compositions were striking — matched beautifully with the shifting stage lighting.
The Concert Études — I'd listened online beforehand and wasn't especially taken with them. Live, they were completely different. I couldn't stop smiling; it felt like listening to electronic music in a concert hall.
The most anticipated piece was the Boléro arrangement. I'd watched video clips to prepare — but the live version still knocked me flat.
His style blending modern composition and jazz into classical frames is something I find genuinely exciting.
PS: Only disappointment — during the opening Scherzo, people kept walking up and down the aisle beside me, which was distracting.
Hayato Sumino: 7 Variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
2025.12.12 | Sa Chen Piano Recital
National Centre for the Performing Arts — Sa Chen in concert
💬 Echoes | A Warm Recital on a Snowy Night
The last concert of 2025. Beijing's first snow of the winter fell that day.
Fittingly, the first piano recital I ever attended was Sa Chen playing Chopin Nocturnes — also at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
This program spanned Baroque, Classical, and Romantic — two hours through three eras of classical music history.
PS: Arrived home to find my electric scooter buried in snow.
🎹 Program
📅 Friday, December 12, 2025 · 19:30
📍 National Centre for the Performing Arts, Concert Hall
🎧 NetEase Music playlist
Bach: French Suite No.5 in G major (Allemande / Courante / Sarabande / Gavotte / Bourrée / Loure / Gigue)
Franck: Prélude, Choral et Fugue
— Intermission —
Beethoven: Fantasia in G minor, Op.77
Chopin: Piano Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.58
— Encore —
Chopin: Mazurka in B♭ major
Traditional Chinese: “Light Snow” (小雪, one of the 24 solar terms)
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Gemini for tirelessly helping sort out my messy setlist notes and laying out this post with such care. It can't hear the music — but I hope the words it helped arrange can pass something of that warmth along to whoever reads this.
