Too easy for children, too difficult for artists: Artur Schnabel's famous paradox about Mozart's piano sonatas takes on renewed significance as the 22-year-old Yunchan Lim embarks on a four-recital cycle of all 18 sonatas at Carnegie Hall this season.
The opening program followed neither a chronological nor a tonal sequence, moving instead from the elegance and brilliance of Mozart's early sonatas toward the darker, more turbulent world of his A minor Sonata.
Placed at the center of the recital, the brief Fantasie in D minor, K397, offered a particularly revealing illustration of Schnabel's paradox. Its improvisatory character gave Lim considerable expressive freedom, which he exploited through pronounced rubato, prolonged pauses, generous pedaling and almost Schumannesque dynamic and rhythmic contrasts. Yet he maintained a clear sense of harmonic direction and dramatic continuity.
The recital opened with two of the composer’s earliest piano sonatas, the relatively modest K279 in C major and the more expansive K284 in D major. In the former, Lim's impeccable articulation, graceful ornamentation and rich variety of tonal colors made an immediate impression. At times, particularly in the Andante, his expressive approach seemed a little too emphatic, with melody and accompaniment competing for attention. The finale was buoyant and technically assured, though a lighter, more playful touch might have suited it better.
In K284, Lim adopted a remarkably brisk pace in the opening Allegro, bringing out its orchestral contrasts while integrating the brilliant passages into the musical argument. Yet his interpretation occasionally seemed caught between heightened Romantic expression and a certain emotional detachment. The Polonaise retained its elegance, although its dance character was not readily discernible. The twelve variations unfolded with a clear sense of continuity, the contrasts between major and minor vividly differentiated. Particularly memorable were the simplicity of his phrasing and the exquisite pianissimos, testimony to the exceptional refinement and control of his playing.
Lim brought a welcome sense of restraint to the opening Allegro of the F major Sonata, K332, allowing its lyrical, playful and dramatic ideas to flow naturally into one another. The Adagio had a singing quality, its melodic lines appearing to anticipate the celebrated Andante of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21, K467. Ornamentation was delicately woven into the texture. The contrast between the Adagio's lyricism and the finale's dazzling virtuosity revealed Lim’s astonishing ability to inhabit different musical characters. Even at breathtaking speed, his playing retained unfailing clarity, though a touch more playfulness would have added another dimension to his rendition.
In the opening Allegro maestoso of the concluding Sonata in A minor, K310, one of Mozart's only two piano sonatas in a minor key, Lim tempered his rubato without sacrificing momentum or diminishing the music's heightened drama. His pearly, sharply articulated semiquaver passages sustained the tension, although some accents were overly emphatic. The Andante unfolded with lyrical grace, its turbulent central episode conveying a sense of unease. The pianist sustained the Presto's restless energy through its final bars.
Lim's approach to Mozart's piano music, a reading filtered through a rather Romantic prism, may not appeal to everyone, but his expressive liberties reflected a coherent and unmistakably personal vision.
