Yunchan Lim: The Golden Age of Piano

In June 2022, at the age of just 18, Yunchan Lim became the youngest winner of the gold medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Yunchan’s is a rare talent­, a musician who combines the technique and musicality of someone three times his age­—and he clearly has a bright future. Even the best musicians, however, need inspiration. For Yunchan, that comes in the form of the great pianists of the early 20th century. This playlist gathers together beautiful pieces played by pianists who lived at a time that is generally considered to be piano’s golden age. These are the performances that set Yunchan on the path to greatness. “I have chosen tracks that through my entire life shocked or touched me the most,” he reveals, “and that forged and inspired me.” We hear the great Ignaz Friedman give a blistering performance of a Chopin etude, Dinu Lipatti displaying incredible evenness of touch in Schubert, and even early jazz pianist Art Tatum in a dizzying version of one of Dvořák’s Humoresques. Some names may perhaps be less familiar, including the Russian British pianist Mark Hambourg who here plays Chopin’s Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat with a naturalness seldom matched by any player today. And there’s the mighty Youri Egorov and Vladimir Sofronitsky, two Soviet-era pianists who in their time made indelible marks on the piano world. “I hope these performances can touch or shock you,” says Yunchan, “as they did with me when I was younger.”