Chopin: Études, Op. 10 & 25
Chopin: Études, Op. 10 & 25 Album ∙ Classical ∙ 2024 Yunchan Lim Chopin composed the first of his Etudes when he was 19. By neat coincidence, Yunchan Lim was the same age when he recorded the composer’s fiendishly difficult, musically profound keyboard studies. The Korean pianist’s vision of Chopin’s two dozen pieces blends the fearless virtuosity of youth with a maturity associated with artists three times his age. Lim, who shot to fame in 2022 as the youngest winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, produces a potent blend of showmanship and artistry, subtle voicing and pinpoint articulation, exquisite legato and arresting dynamic shifts, all harnessed to strikingly individual expression. “Chopin’s Etudes were a mountain I had to overcome someday,” he tells Apple Music Classical. “For the recording, I had the compulsion to be technically perfect. But I think every note is like a leaf swaying in the wind and should be as beautiful as nature itself. I feel Chopin ...