Rescaling Bach: Yunchan Lim’s modern vision of the Goldbergs

Yunchan Lim

By SangKwon Lee, 25 March 2025

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“such sombre gravity, with each note descending into a private abyss”

Reviewed at Goyang Arts Center, Goyang on 24 March 2025

Lee, Round and velvety-smooth blend…

Bach, Goldberg Variations, BWV988

Yunchan Lim, Piano

Schumann from the inside out: Yunchan Lim and Staatskapelle Dresden

SangKwon Lee, 1st February

Yunchan Lim seldom seeks the spotlight in a reflective, conversational account of Schumann's Piano Concerto, conducted by Myung-whun Chung.

*****

Yunchan Lim, Daniel Harding and the Santa Cecilia in Seoul

SangKwon Lee, 4th December

Daniel Harding and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia choose proportion over spectacle as their Asian tour reaches Seoul.

****1

Brilliant Bartók and an Adams premiere from the Philadelphia Orchestra

Cameron Kelsall, 4th October

Yunchan Lim makes his long-awaited local debut in collaboration with his frequent partner Marin Alsop, the orchestra's newly minted Principal Guest Conductor.

***11

Gustavo Dudamel opens the New York Philharmonic season

Susan Stempleski, 11th September

Joined by pianist Yunchan Lim, the opening concert of Gustavo Dudamel’s season as the orchestra's Music and Artistic Director Designate features exhilarating performances from the American repertoire.

****1

Yunchan Lim plays a starring role in the CBSO’s Prom

Leighton Jones, 1st August

Adams, Rachmaninov and Berio are not three easy bedfellows, however Kazuki Yamada and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra pull these strands together remarkably.

****1

Rach 4 redefined: Mäkelä and Yunchan Lim set a new benchmark in Seoul

SangKwon Lee, 11th June

In Yunchan Lim’s hands the score to Rachmaninov's Fourth Piano Concerto emerges as a small revelation, conspicuously succeeding where so many others have floundered.

*****

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SangKwon Lee

SangKwon Lee is a Seoul-based classical music critic whose writing focuses on concert performances and recordings. A contributor to Gramophone and a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, he covers the classical music scene in Korea and internationally.

Rescaling Bach: Yunchan Lim’s modern vision of the Goldberg Variations