It’s difficult to believe Yunchan Lim, who at 18 became the youngest-ever Van Cliburn Competition winner, is still only 21. Difficult to believe, because each of his four releases for Decca, of which this is the latest, exhibit such mastery, such artistry, such maturity, that you could easily be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a pianist twice his age.
Not only do his recordings of Chopin, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Bach – and Liszt, if we include the brilliant Transcendental Etudes issued by Steinway and Sons as part of their Live from The Cliburn series – bear witness to Lim’s impeccable technical skill; they reveal a true original who is nevertheless able to place his own considerable imagination firmly at the service of the composer.

This is perhaps nowhere more evident than on the present recording, captured live in Carnegie Hall in April 2025 – an account, of Bach’s keyboard masterpiece, whose effect on the listening public is destined to equal if not exceed that of Glenn Gould’s legendary 1955 recording.