Hj lim rachmaninoff biography

Yunchan Lim, a year-old pianist and one of the fastest-rising stars of the classical world, returned to Boston on March 17 to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Dubbed “classical music’s answer to K-pop” by the New York Times, Lim first catapulted to the international stage in as the youngest winner of the Cliburn Competition, where his performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.

3 has amassed over 14 million views on YouTube. Currently a student at the New England Conservatory, Lim made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in February featuring this very piece.

Hj lim rachmaninoff biography Photo: Hilary Scott. Berlioz was no doubt exaggerating, but, even today, there is no shortage of brilliantly talented young keyboardists. Not all of them live up to their own hype, of course, and fewer still build and persevere to have long, iconic careers. But there are more than a few reasons to expect great things from Yunchan Lim, the year-old phenom who, in , became the youngest winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The pianist, who is currently a student at New England Conservatory, quickly demonstrated a musical instinct that went far beyond the mere technical aspects of this knuckle-busting favorite.

This month, he returned to the Boston venue to deliver a concert with the Orchestre de Paris, under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä as part of the Celebrity Series of Boston.

The Orchestre de Paris prefaced the night with a poetic delivery of Debussy’s “Prélude à ‘L’après-midi d’un faune,’” a beautiful homage to the piece that premiered in Paris in The concert proceeded chronologically through musical history, next introducing its most anticipated act of the night, Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No.

2.” Composed in following a disastrous reception of a previous work, the concerto is Rachmaninoff’s grandiose comeback, dedicated to his hypnotherapist who helped him recover from his musical devastation. This behemoth of a piece was widely loved in 20th-century Moscow and continues to captivate audiences today. Drawing the curtains to a close was the orchestra’s fiery rendition of Stravinsy’s “The Firebird,” a fairy tale-inspired ballet written in for a Parisian premiere.

Unaccompanied piano first broke the hall’s silence.

Somber and compelling, the chords crescendoed into a tempestuous arpeggio, ushering in the iconic orchestral theme.

HJ Lim is a pianist of extraordinary imagination and vision; an artist who has won praise for refreshing and rediscovering the pinnacles of the piano repertoire, for the intellectual depths of her musical insight, but above all as an artist who balances all of these talents with an undeniable flair and virtuosity. She created a sensation in the music world when, in , she performed the complete Beethoven sonatas over eight consecutive days. The following year, she recorded the complete cycle for EMI Classics and became not only the youngest interpreter to ever record these masterpieces, but the first and only classical pianist to debut at number one on the Billboard classical chart and n. HJ Lim began her musical studies at the age of three. At the age of twelve she made the decision, of her own accord, to leave her native South Korea and move to France.

Lim’s voice captured with versatility the drama that often defines Rachmaninoff’s oeuvre. Slipping into and out of character, Lim commanded an impressive range of temporal elasticity to accompany his own narrative. A memorable transition from the night was the lead-up to the Maestoso section in the latter half of the first movement, when fleeting, glassy runs were immediately followed by sumptuous, viscous chords reminiscent of folk stomps.

Sometimes endearingly called the “Rach 2,” the concerto is best known for its lyrical second movement, which was popularized by its appearance in David Lean’s film “Brief Encounter” and, more recently, on TikTok.

It is tempting for any musician to become engulfed by this movement’s emotional density, and few artists can successfully balance expression and indifference to hit the sweet spot of musical intimacy. Sensitive but not overly dramatic, Lim exercised nuanced control over this movement. His sensitivity particularly shone through in this chapter, which featured melodic execution that was at times nonchalant and at others indulgent.

Persistent in Lim’s sound, however, is its bell-like quality.

Many of his initial notes are percussive and assertive like the toll of a bell, but soon after, the sound becomes supple and giving, eventually resonating with a sweeter finish.

Rachmaninoff piano concerto no 2 The Telegraph. If you think HJ Lim is an Asian prodigy whose childhood was only flourished by a piano keyboard, think again. Coming from a family heavily marked by the Korean wars, Beethoven and Chopin were for her synonyms of freedom of expression that she could reach one day. Short after, following a long reflexion with the accord of her very happy mother, HJ Lim decides to become a buddhist nun as she realizes that a religious path will be a way for her to exclusively focus on her original pursuit of freedom and ultimately, of the essence of being. Thus, Plato, Dostoyevsky, Poulenc and Chopin are part of her intellectual bulimia and it felt only natural when in , she performed the complete Beethoven sonatas over eight consecutive days in Paris creating a sensation in musical world, with her own essay on Beethoven and analysis on each of the sonata.

This was especially evident in the third movement, where Lim emerged with piercing lucidity from the romantic nostalgia of the second. He eloquently delivered the rest of the scherzo, imbuing each musical syllable with a life of its own. While he invoked the same motifs from the previous movement, Lim conjured them with thunderous power and mobility in the third, demonstrating his ability to maneuver with both charisma and vulnerability.

The third and final movement culminated in a three-bow standing ovation, quelled only by an encore.

Lim quickly silenced the audience with a meditative rendition of Chopin’s “Étude Op. No. 3 in E Major” ‘Tristesse’ — a stark auditory contrast from the scherzo and the thunderous applause just moments prior.

This behemoth of a piece was widely loved in 20th-century Moscow and continues to captivate audiences today. Somber and compelling, the chords crescendoed into a tempestuous arpeggio, ushering in the iconic orchestral theme. Slipping into and out of character, Lim commanded an impressive range of temporal elasticity to accompany his own narrative. A memorable transition from the night was the lead-up to the Maestoso section in the latter half of the first movement, when fleeting, glassy runs were immediately followed by sumptuous, viscous chords reminiscent of folk stomps. Sensitive but not overly dramatic, Lim exercised nuanced control over this movement.

With his encore, Lim alluded to his upcoming debut album “Chopin: Études,” which is scheduled for release on April After two more ovations, the audience finally allowed the pianist to retire. The Rachmaninoff was not only the crowning touch of the night, but also a testament to Lim’s prolific season. As much of a musical behemoth as “Rach 2” is, Lim seems well on his way to becoming one too.

—Staff writer Bella Kim can be reached at