Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Live from the Cliburn
Transcendental Études (1852)
Yunchan Lim (piano)
rec. live, 10 June 2022, Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Steinway & Sons STNS30217 [65]
Unusually for a brand new compact disc release this is a recording and performance that piano aficionados have been able to hear (and watch) for over a year now. This is because it is the genuinely remarkable semi-final recital given by the young South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The organisers of the competition video record all the performances. So Lim’s complete performance can be viewed here [already watched 3.7 million times] and I would strongly urge anyone with the slightest, even passing interest in piano music, the art of performance or even just curiosity to see the arrival on the world stage of an astonishing talent and watch part of this performance at least.
There are several factors that lift this event – performance seems too modest a word – to the level of extra-ordinary. Not least that Lim was just eighteen years old at the time he won the Cliburn – giving an equally breathtaking performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 [seen a remarkable 12 million times to date and which Lim apparently considers as only “30% successful…”] as his final concerto choice. However, returning to the semi-final, Lim’s audacious decision, rather than a carefully balanced and contrasted recital displaying his range of technique and musicianship, was to throw down a musical gauntlet by performing only the Liszt Transcendental Études complete. The extreme technical and physical demands performance of the complete set without breaks requires takes this beyond the ability musically, physically or indeed emotionally of all but a very few players. A good example is following the titanic power of Mazeppa [study No.4] immediately with arguably the hardest movement of all Feux follets. Lim briefly wipes his brow and within a few seconds starts the next etude. With no caveats or allowances Lim triumphs to a breath-taking degree. Part of the reason I would encourage the curious to look at the video of this performance is to be able to see just how poised, focussed and unfussy Lim is at the keyboard. For such a young man he has a calm authority that puts many of his contemporaries who, for all their technical brilliance, seem more focussed on mannered visual display and promotional gimmickery or label-driven A&R flummery.
As such, normal critical commentary seems superfluous if not presumptuous. Instead this should really simply document the event which I would not be surprised if it became a modern-day legendary performance by a player who must surely go onto have an enduring international career. For sure there may be moments within any given etude where scouring the catalogue might result in potential preferences or miniscule miscalculations. But this is a single sweep of an interpretation and I am sure if Lim ever considered doing the same again he would make different choices but that is ultimately irrelevant because for the listener there is a remarkable sense of being swept along in this moment in this performance by the sheer musical conviction and technical mastery of Lim’s playing. Perhaps a measure of just how well Lim plays is that while the listener is clearly aware of just how hard this music must be to play he presents it with no apparent strain or limitation. Not that I intend to do a compare and contrast review but in dipping into other well-regarded recordings (presumably made in studio conditions over a period of time) they can sound relatively cautious. But make no mistake this is not simply a case of Lim bulldozing his way through this work. Yes, he produces an astonishingly wide dynamic range when required but the abiding impression is of the sophistication of his expressive range too with lyrical passages delivered with sensitivity and restraint. Another recurring, indeed striking, feature of this playing is the clarity – not just of note to note articulation but of musical thought and process. To my mind this is in part why the listener’s awareness of the sheer difficulty of this music falls away leaving instead an appreciation of the musical line and goals of any given passage or study.
As a document of a live performance listeners should be aware that applause covers the very first chords of the work and that there are a few occasional audiences noises during the performance. Likewise, enthusiastic applause breaks out immediately at the work’s conclusion. However, to my mind such is the stature and significance of this recital that to avoid it on those grounds alone would be to miss one of the most impressive musical events in recent times. The piano sound as recorded is perhaps not as ideally warm as I would have liked – it is good and certainly not harsh but there is occasional glare which I hear as part of the recording in the Bass Performance Hall rather than the actual playing. The Steinway & Sons presentation of the disc focuses wholly on Lim and the competition although it manages to miss out stating the date or location let alone a word about the work. Marin Alsop who chaired the competition jury as well as conducting the final concerti is quoted as saying; “Yunchan is that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together”.
This disc bears witness to the international arrival of a musician of authoritative stature and charismatic presence. The hope must be that the remarkable promise of this debut recital is triumphantly realised. In the meantime this is genuinely transcendent playing that demands to be heard.
Nick Barnard
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