Yunchan Lim

Yunchan Lim is the one of the most talked-about classical artists on the planet. In 2024, he presents his debut studio album on Decca Classics - the Chopin Études, Op.10 & Op.25. "To me, Chopin is a composer who yearned for the past. I wanted the album cover to feel like solitude and nostalgia, and to look like you have come across an old photo." - Yunchan Lim

This Deutsche Grammophon release marks the debut of the pianist Yunchan Lim, who won the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (he was the second winner in a row from South Korea) and has been called classical music's answer to K-pop. In several ways, he has the right kind of unconventional, unassuming attitude to stand out from the crowd, beginning with that shown by this album itself. Where anyone else would have issued a solo album or, at the least, an album of high-profile concertos with a major orchestra, Lim chooses a live performance with a regional South Korean orchestra on an album with several wholly orchestral pieces. (This, of course, makes him stand out all the more.)