Beethoven, Isang Yun, Barber (Live)

Album review

This Deutsche Grammophon release marks the debut of the pianist Yunchan Lim, who won the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (he was the second winner in a row from South Korea) and has been called classical music's answer to K-pop. In several ways, he has the right kind of unconventional, unassuming attitude to stand out from the crowd, beginning with that shown by this album itself. Where anyone else would have issued a solo album or, at the least, an album of high-profile concertos with a major orchestra, Lim chooses a live performance with a regional South Korean orchestra on an album with several wholly orchestral pieces. (This, of course, makes him stand out all the more.) His performance of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 ("Emperor"), is as commanding as one could wish, and he also does well with a pair of Scriabin encores, even if, in Mompou, he lacks the requisite subtlety. The other debut here is that of the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra, which has grown from its origins in the late '60s into an impressively smooth group despite having had few music directors who have lasted more than two or three years. They deliver a competent Barber Adagio for strings and a showpiece, high-energy programmatic work commemorating a 1980 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju. The whole album might be regarded as exemplary as a way in which legacy labels might pursue new audiences in Asian countries, and it is enjoyable for anyone. As for Lim, 18 years old when this recording was made, yes, he is a rising star.

© James Manheim /TiVo