Lim Yunchan innovates Bach's Goldberg Variations in Tongyeong
TONGYEONG, South Gyeongsang Province — On Sunday evening, piano sensation Lim Yunchan took the stage before an audience of about 1,300 to perform Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, as part of the Tongyeong International Music Festival.
The much-anticipated performance — tickets sold out in just 58 seconds online — in the small coastal city of Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, was the last of the pianist's four concerts in South Korea featuring this repertoire.
Outside Tongyeong Concert Hall, several fans who failed to get tickets were spotted in the lobby holding signs that read "Looking for a Lim Yunchan ticket" in a desperate attempt to snag a seat. Over a hundred people who couldn't secure a seat made do with watching the live broadcast in the concert hall lobby.
Lim, who turned 21 earlier this month, had long expressed a desire to perform Bach's Goldberg Variations, saying it was a piece he hoped to take on after winning the Van Cliburn Competition in 2022.
In an April 2024 interview following the release of his first Decca studio album, "Chopin Etudes," Lim revealed that his next major repertoire would be the Goldberg Variations.
"I haven't had a chance to dig into the meaning behind the notes yet, but this is a work I've been nurturing internally for over 10 years. I'll start putting it together this summer,' he had said.
Since performing it in San Francisco on Feb. 25, Goldberg Variations has been the centerpiece of Lim's current concert season.
Sunday's recital opened with '...Round and velvety-smooth blend...,' a 5-minute piece he commissioned from Lee Hanurij, a 19-year-old rising composer. Lee has already garnered international recognition, winning first place at the Bartok World Competition last November.
Lim said he commissioned the piece believing that "it would be meaningful to pair Goldberg Variations, a monumental piece by one of the greatest composers in human history, with a work by a promising contemporary composer — someone living in the present day."
'It's a beautiful piece,' composer Chin Unsuk said after the performance. 'They're good buddies, and musically, they connect well too,' she added.
With Lee's piece serving as a thoughtful prelude, Lim proceeded with Bach's masterpiece, taking 78 minutes and 20 seconds.
'From beginning to end, the overall structure of that monumental piece is incredibly logical yet grand, and its intricate design is truly remarkable,' said pianist Kim Joo-young immediately after the concert. 'The attention to detail is outstanding, and the boldness is impressive too.'
Kim explained that the harpsichord of Bach's time didn't have pedals, but the music is filled with embellishments, leaving ample room for the performer's personal interpretation. 'Every time Lim Yunchan plays this piece, he's likely to bring a different color to it, which makes it all the more exciting to anticipate — that's why I hope his performance of the Goldberg Variations is never recorded in a studio — only preserved as a live recording.'
Park Moon-seon, general manager of the Daewon Cultural Foundation, highlighted the structural brilliance of the performance, calling attention to the architectural mastery of Lim's interpretation.
What caught Park by surprise was the encore: the 32-bar bass line of the Aria from the Goldberg Variations.
The Aria, along with its 30 variations and final reprise, all share this same harmonic structure — not the melody — which is both rare and ingenious.
By revisiting this foundational 32-bar bass line in the encore, the pianist offered a powerful reminder of Bach's genius: a piece that evoked a wide range of emotions was built entirely on that simple structure.
Music critic Chin Hoe-suk echoed the sentiment. 'Lim's performance reminded me once again of Bach's greatness as a composer who leaves room for interpretation by future generations,' she said. 'I especially appreciated how the slower variations were interpreted with a touch of romanticism.'
Lim is set to present Bach's Goldberg Variations in Paris, Vienna, London, Abu Dhabi, Ann Arbor, New York and Washington DC in April and Verbier, Switzerland in July.
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