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Pianist Yunchan Lim meditates on mortality in upcoming album, 'Tchaikovsky: The Seasons'

Published: 20 Jun. 2025, 13:28 Updated: 22 Jun. 2025, 17:19

LIM JEONG-WON
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Pianist Yunchan Lim [UNIVERSAL MUSIC]

Pianist Yunchan Lim is turning the passage of time into a meditation on mortality in his next album, “Tchaikovsky: The Seasons,” to be released Aug. 22 under Decca Classics.

Rather than interpreting the 12 miniatures as simply reflecting the calendar year, Lim reimagines the iconic suite as a journey through the final year of a human life. The first taste of the album, “June. Barcarolle,” dropped on streaming platforms Friday.

This marks Lim’s second release of the year, following May’s live album of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 from his winning performance at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Then just 18, Lim stunned audiences with a performance The Guardian called “comparable to Argerich or Rachmaninoff himself,” declaring his talent “once in a generation.”

Lim’s conceptual approach to “The Seasons” begins with “By the Hearth,” a slow-burning piece he says symbolizes the dwindling fire of life.

The cover for pianist Yunchan Lim's new album ″Tchaikovsky: The Seasons″ [UNIVERSAL MUSIC]

“At first, you're sad for no reason as you remember the past, but then something new gives you hope,” he said. “You become overwhelmed, fall into reverie watching cigarette smoke, cry yourself to sleep, relive forgotten memories, hesitate at the threshold of the past, and finally return to the present, where you accept everything and bid farewell to a day that will never return.”

Lim has performed this interpretation worldwide throughout the 2023–24 season to widespread critical acclaim.

French classical magazine Diapason wrote that the beauty and precision of his playing felt “almost unreal,” adding that few would have believed “The Seasons” could move audiences so deeply. Dutch outlet Die Nieuwe Muze called Lim “a sincere musician who becomes one with the piano, channeling raw emotion.”

“Tchaikovsky: The Seasons” will be released Aug. 22, with more singles to follow in the lead-up.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]