Yunchan Lim’s teacher plays Carnegie Hall
NewsSouth Korea’s young Cliburn winner has been an enigmatic legend ever since his victory last year. Now his teacher has come out of the shadows to demonstrate his own skills in New York.
Yunchan fan Douglas Kurz reports:
Tonight I had the pleasure of hearing Yunchan’s teacher, Prof. Minsoo Sohn, perform an all Liszt recital at Zankel Hall (at New York’s Carnegie Hall). Yunchan was there as well, as you all saw in my earlier post! Prof. Sohn played the Six Consolations (2nd version) and the 12 Transcendental Études. Each cycle was played through without interruption or applause. The encore, suitably, was the lovely peaceful Wiegenlied (“Cradle Song”) of Liszt, which could easily rock a baby into blissful sleep.
It is worth posting some thoughts on this concert here, because the performance was enlightening, and invited direct comparison with Yunchan, particularly in the Transcendental Études. Sohn was quickly seen to share the thoughtful, intelligent, and poetic qualities of Yunchan. He is about 47 yrs old, and so predictably plays with more repose, taking time with slower tempi than Yunchan. He has a prodigious technique, and plays a bit more carefully than Yunchan, yet still musters great color and sonority, and plenty of passion. Of course he has less of the reckless abandon, the thrill of volcanic genius, and the youthful ferocity and velocity of his 20 year old student! But he played everything very musically.
In general, the Études were simply *excellent*. Right away in Praeludio, it was clear that he prefers a tempo that allows all the notes to be heard. That piece is often ripped through at maximum speed. Sohn’s slower tempo brought out qualities in the piece that we don’t usually have time to appreciate. The same was true of the two nameless Études (no.2 in a minor, and no.10 in f minor). Not that they were slow by any means …
Read on here.
I was fortunate to hear Minsoo Sohn perform the Goldberg Variations in Minneapolis 10 years ago. His playing was exquisite. (A CD is available of him in another live Goldberg performance). When I learned that he was Yunchan Lim’s teacher I thought it made perfect sense.
Thanks for sharing my review of Prof. Sohn’s recital!
He played the same program in Hong Kong last month. My reaction to it was similar to Mr. Kurz’s. A rare pleasure.
Lim won the Cliburn gold medal in May of 2022, not last year.
Minsoo Sohn hardly emerged from the shadows: He has performed in New York before – at Carnegie Hall and at the IKIF International Keyboard Institute and Festival in 2010 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oQLVM8U8SM) to much acclaim. But now let’s go to the source: Sohn’s teacher Russell Sherman frequently performed the complete Liszt Transcendental Etudes (I recall 3 performances in New York), so Sohn and his pupil Yunchan Lim are continuing the tradition of their great teacher.
It was a fantastic concert! Indeed, the tempi of the first two etudes were pleasantly relaxed rather than lighting quick.
Sohn played all the etudes with impressive precision, beautiful voicing, strong forte and rich piano. His right foot was sensitive, and he used his left sometimes as well.
From where I was sitting I couldn’t fully see his hands, but it looked like his wrists were often below the keyboard level. He often gestured with his left hand, a habit which he passed on to Lim.
A very nice lady sitting next to me gave me a copy of Lim’s Chopin Etudes Album for free! Can’t wait to listen to it.