Yunchan Lim embraces ensemble role in all-Mozart program

Pianist Yunchan Lim and soprano Lim Sun-hae perform Mozart's concert aria "Ch'io mi scordi di te?" at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, June 15. Courtesy of Mok Production

What might have been going through Mozart's mind as he sat at the keyboard composing a concert aria for British soprano Nancy Storace? Watching pianist Yunchan Lim's performance on Monday, perhaps it was simply the hope that her voice would shine.

Appearing at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul on June 15 with Austria's Camerata Salzburg, conductor Masato Suzuki and Korean soprano Lim Sun-hae, Lim deliberately set aside the image of the commanding solo virtuoso. Instead, he presented himself as an attentive ensemble musician, embracing the orchestra and vocalist with uncommon sensitivity.

Even his appearance reflected a change. Having cut the long hair he wore during his recital tour last month, Lim took the stage with a shorter hairstyle and a classic brooch pinned to his jacket.

The program was devoted entirely to Mozart, featuring Piano Concertos No. 25 and No. 24, with the concert aria "Ch'io mi scordi di te?" between them. In an unusual format, the featured soloist remained on stage from the opening work through the encore.

Performing with around 30 musicians, Camerata Salzburg played on modern instruments while retaining some of thyese raw sonorities associated with Baroque performance practice, particularly through its trumpets and timpani. The blend of Classical elegance and older musical color found a natural counterpart in Lim's playing.

The concert's defining moment came in "Ch'io mi scordi di te?," which Mozart wrote as a farewell gift to Storace, the original Susanna in his opera "The Marriage of Figaro." Mozart himself played the keyboard part at the premiere.

For the first time in recent memory, Lim performed with a score before him. From the opening bars, he filled the spaces Mozart left in the keyboard part with his own harmonies and brief ornamental figures, bringing the Baroque tradition of improvisation to a modern grand piano.

When Lim Sun-hae began to sing, the piano never sought the spotlight. Lim accompanied her with extraordinary restraint, matching the soprano's phrasing and breathing in the softest dynamics. For listeners accustomed to thinking of him solely as a dazzling virtuoso, it was a reminder of how wide his musical identity is.

In the program notes, the pianist described the aria as "a work that brought me great comfort during a mentally difficult period last year."

His collaborative instincts were also evident in the slow movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25, where he engaged in intimate musical dialogue with the woodwinds. Carefully shaping each phrase in response to the conductor's gestures, Lim held the audience in rapt attention. Whenever his characteristically flexible sense of rhythm emerged, the seasoned members of Camerata Salzburg responded instantly with subtle adjustments in tempo.

Pianist Yunchan Lim performs a Mozart piano concerto with Camerata Salzburg at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, June 15. Courtesy of Mok Production

The cadenza in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 was another highlight. Choosing Edwin Fischer's celebrated cadenza, Lim began with quiet poise before gradually building emotional intensity and lyrical depth. His trademark technique — combining crystalline articulation with taut rhythmic control — generated musical excitement without ever sacrificing elegance.

For the encore, the two musicians returned together to perform Mozart's song "Abendempfindung."

The Mozart concerto project, presented only in Korea and Japan, marks the opening chapter of Lim's self-described "Mozart pilgrimage," launched in anticipation of the composer's 270th birth anniversary. This fall, he will continue the journey with performances of Mozart's complete piano sonatas at New York's Carnegie Hall and London's Wigmore Hall.

The cover of Yunchan Lim's live Carnegie Hall live album of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Lim is set to perform Mozart's complete piano sonatas, together with Mozart's two Fantasias (K. 397 and K. 475), over four recitals at Carnegie Hall during the 2026-27 season, as part of his Carnegie Hall recital series. Courtesy of Universal Music

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.