Debut disc for Cliburn winner
NewsWhile everyone in the music biz wants to get a piece of the sensational Yunchan Lim, who won the Van Cliburn competition last year, it is the marginal Steinway label that gets to release his first disc.
It’s a live performance of the Liszt Transcendental Etudes from the competition, with which Steinway is a lead partner.
What took them so long?
“What took them so long?”
Mo money mo problems? He and his BIG management tried to squeezed the best deal probably or it is competition’s agreement… Because he had a disc release after the competition already from Universal in S. Korea, maybe they didn’t get what they wanted from Universal. This is business at the end of the day…
An astonishing performance of the Liszt Etudes from Lim- captured at the Cliburn ( I think that the jury were similarly awestruck by what they were hearing- others comment on his Rach 3 also- but plenty of pianists play this well- the Liszt is quite unique & in a class of its own). I’ve never heard them played better- even from the likes of Berman & Cziffra. Even if he never achieves such heights in his future career- this recording alone will place him in the annals of pianism. Good that DG have finally released it for this reason.
Agreed! (My standards to date have been Arrau and Trifonov.)
The release is from Steinway, not DG.
The important thing is that the recording be worthy of the artist. When Ralph Votapek won the first ever Van Cliburn competition the prizes included a contract with RCA Victor Red Seal, but the debut recording ended up being a rather forgettable item with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, not that there was anything wrong per se with Fiedler as a concerto accompanist. Decades later Fiedler was thoughtful enough to include Votapek on what turned out to be his last recording, for Decca/London. The rarely heard Gershwin Second Rhapsody.
The Steinway label is not “marginal”, Norman. It’s a relatively new label that has many interesting titles, some well known music and artists, some less familiar. In a period when only the Yujas and Lang Langs and Yo-Yos get actual record ‘deals’, the non one-percenters in the classical realm are happy that labels like this are putting their work out in the world, streaming and on CD. And Lim will be on a ‘major’ soon enough.
As far as i know the winner of the cliburn-whoever it would be- is under engagement with steinway label this year. (the winner of the last time was with Decca. )
I ordered the album last year.(even I didn’t know what the repertoir will be back then!) and it finally come out next month.
Anyway very much lookin forward to the album.
His Transcendental Etude is just amazing. his no.8 _wilde jagd is fantastic. And charismatic mazeppa,
Appassionata!
I love 1,2,4,8,10,11,12.