Lim Yunchan reimagines Tchaikovsky’s 'The Seasons'
Celebrated pianist Lim Yunchan's recording of "June: Barcarolle" was released on major streaming services Friday, ahead of the release of his new album, “Tchaikovsky: The Seasons," Decca Classics announced Friday.
"June: Barcarolle" is the sixth track in the album scheduled to be released Aug. 22. The album will be Lim's second album this year, and was recorded at the Menuhin Hall in Surrey, England, on July 31 and Aug. 1, 2024.
The recording presents a bold reinterpretation of the Russian composer’s 12-piece piano cycle — not as a sequence of changing seasons, but as a meditation on the final year of a human life, according to Decca.
Lim explained, “Tchaikovsky’s 'The Seasons' captures the final year of a human life. The first piece, 'By the Hearth,' depicts the dying fire in a stove. At first, you’re swept up in a sorrow rooted in memories of the past, without knowing exactly why. Then, something new happens that gives you hope. You feel overwhelmed, drift into daydreams while watching cigarette smoke curl in the air, and cry yourself to sleep. Forgotten memories resurface, and you hesitate at the threshold of the past. Eventually, you return to the present, come to terms with everything and close the chapter on a day that will never come again, accompanied by the sound of a bell.”
The album features artwork titled “What Is the Weight of a Petal?” by Lim's friend, Korean artist Choi Ho-yeon.
“The cover art is a work by my dear friend Choi Ho-yeon, whose brush and words trace the still, fleeting memories of those tender ancient hours which this music recalls, and dares to resurrect as eternal reverie,” Lim wrote on his Instagram post.
This is Lim’s second release of the year, following the May release of the live recording of Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” from the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where he won first prize at just 18. His 2024 studio album debut, “Chopin: Etudes,” received widespread acclaim and swept three categories at the BBC Music Magazine Awards.
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