How Yunchan Lim modified my thoughts about Tchaikovsky’s ‘Seasons’ : NPR

Typically it takes a first-rate artist to breathe life right into a second-rate piece of music.

Let’s be trustworthy, the set of piano miniatures known as The Seasons isn’t top-shelf Tchaikovsky. Particularly for those who evaluate it to Swan Lake, the ballet he was ending in late 1875 when he was approached by the editor of a St. Petersburg music periodical. The composer was supplied good-looking fee to jot down a collection of piano postcards depicting every month of the yr, in chronological order. The writer added his personal descriptive subtitles for each bit.

Only some pianists have recorded the whole cycle, providing competent performances of those serviceable little items. However one thing unequalled is going on in a brand new reside recording of The Seasons by the younger sensation Yunchan Lim. At age 18, the South Korean was the youngest ever to seize the gold medal on the Van Cliburn Worldwide Piano Competitors in 2022. It was one other Russian’s music — Rachmaninov‘s thunderous Third Piano Concerto — that clinched Lim’s victory. Tchaikovsky’s salon-like, mid-tempo Seasons could not be extra completely different.

All of it begins cozied as much as a crackling fireplace within the month of January, the place Lim finds a lot tenderness in Tchaikovsky’s delicately rolled chords. However for Lim, that fireside is not blazing, it is really fizzling out. He has concocted a storyline for the cycle, detailed within the album’s liner notes, which renders the writer’s picturesque subtitles all however ineffective. Lim views The Seasons as the ultimate, somber, yr in an outdated man’s life. And that units up a probably attention-grabbing paradox of the younger and strong envisioning the outdated and feeble.

Whether or not you purchase Lim’s melodramatic narrative or not, the album is proof that his swelling romanticism is turning into his best power. “I’ve made up my thoughts I’ll reside my life just for the sake of music, and I made a decision that I’ll quit every thing for music,” Lim has stated. That feels like one thing the heart-on-sleeve Tchaikovsky would possibly say himself.

The month of February depicts an effervescent carnival, whereas March, titled “Music of the Lark” by Tchaikovsky’s writer, is lyrically wealthy. However in Lim’s eyes, it is fraught with tears, tragedy and the unexplained loss of a kid. Irrespective of. Right here we discover considered one of Lim’s most interesting performances, sounding ethereal, off-the-cuff, as if improvised, virtually like jazz.

Tchaikovsky’s Seasons incorporates one thing of successful single. It is the month of June (“Barcarolle”), one of many composer’s most wistful and delightful melodies, propelled by a gently swaying beat. And here’s a second to get molecular — to listen to the Yunchan Lim distinction — by evaluating the opening phrase of “June.” In his completely effective 2014 recording, pianist Pavel Kolesnikov appears to measure every observe with a ruler to verify they’re equidistant. However Lim opts for a nuanced rhythmic push and pull, and refined dynamic management which presents an additional emotional tug.

Lim is just 21 now, however he performs like an outdated soul. Within the month of October, one other spotlight of the album, his astounding, featherlight contact intertwines a pair of heartbreaking melodies, one seemingly calling out from a distance. It is a probing, intense, introspective account, not in contrast to the efficiency Lim gave final yr earlier than a shocked viewers at NPR’s Tiny Desk. The pianist compares the darkly lit music to J.S. Bach‘s Goldberg Variation No. 25, usually nicknamed the “Black Pearl” for its crepuscular vibe.

The Seasons concludes at Christmastime. Lim’s protagonist is, as traditional, stuffed with remorse, however you would not be capable to inform by Tchaikovsky’s jaunty waltz, which Lim dares to render simply barely off kilter at one level.

In the long run, Lim’s imposed storyline won’t add up. However does it matter? The poetry of his performances has reworked these peculiar items into one thing extraordinary. The album proves that Lim’s delicate aspect may be his most audacious — and has pressured me to alter my thoughts about Tchaikovsky’s Seasons.