“Chopin Studies”, Yunchan Lim | The duty

Seeing this CD released a month after the death of Maurizio Pollini is symbolic. What recording more than Studies by Chopin was emblematic of the Pollini myth, a reference pianist who overcomes all pitfalls? There were certainly other versions, such as that of Agustin Anievas. But like Lukas Geniušas when he plays these Studies, or the sounds of Benjamin Grosvenor, when he touches a piano, Yunchan Lim, winner of the Van Cliburn competition, looks further. And we must recognize that it is fundamentally more interesting than the “ Studies played as studies” by Anievas, Ashkenazy or Pollini, who have nourished us for 40 years. We come back to the considerations on the vocality of Cortot’s Chopin that we can have by discussing with Nareh Arghamanyan or by listening to Beatrice Rana’s version (Warner). In fact, the eloquent Yunchan Lim has indeed just joined the latter at the top of this discography in the radiant universe of a new galaxy of formidable pianists.

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