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Yunchan Lim presents Bach’s Goldberg Variations 'Live at Carnegie Hall’

The once-in-a-generation pianist offers a deeply personal vision of Bach&rsquo;s masterpiece as &ldquo;a journey of life in music&rdquo; (Yunchan Lim)
Decca Classics today announces Yunchan Lim: Bach, Goldberg Variations &lsquo;LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL&rsquo;, released on 6th February 2026. The full concert film will be available on <a href="https://www.stage-plus.com/de/artist/artist_85P78QBJEHFJADPM6SP0">STAGE+</a> and Carnegie Hall+ starting from February 6th.
Revered for its technical complexity and emotional depth, the (nearly) 300-year-old solo keyboard masterpiece is an established peak for any concert pianist to conquer.
Here Yunchan Lim does just this, with his fourth album since signing with Decca Classics in October 2023. This landmark Carnegie Hall live recording offers a deeply personal vision of Bach&rsquo;s famous work, and is something Lim has thought about for most of his life so far.
Lim describes the Goldbergs as &ldquo;a journey of life in music &mdash; from the first opening of our eyes in the Aria, through thirty deeply human variations, to the final Aria, when our eyes gently close.&rdquo; He reminisces, &ldquo;The first time I heard Bach&rsquo;s Goldberg Variations was when I was eight years old and I discovered a box set of Glenn Gould&rsquo;s Bach recordings. When I first listened to it, I was amazed by its grandeur and beauty, and it has remained close to my heart ever since. I&rsquo;ve dreamt of releasing this piece as a live album from Carnegie Hall.&rdquo;
Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall, Sir Clive Gillinson, explains in the album sleeve-notes, &ldquo;Following Yunchan&rsquo;s winning performance at the Cliburn Competition, our artistic planning team made one of our easiest decisions ever in immediately offering him a solo recital in our main hall&hellip; We knew we were listening to a very special artist at the start of what will undoubtedly be an extraordinary career, an artist who will bring inspiration to audiences worldwide for a very long time.&rdquo;
Lim&rsquo;s interpretation of the Goldbergs has already captivated audiences worldwide and garnered glowing reviews. The Guardian praised his Wigmore Hall performance of the piece for its &ldquo;youthful vibrancy with interpretative maturity&rdquo; and the Financial Times noted his &ldquo;intellectual precision, baroque elegance, expressive balance and virtuosic flair&rdquo;. Internationally, El Pa&iacute;s reports that it is &ldquo;considered by many as the best version of this work currently available.&rdquo;
Since becoming the youngest-ever winner at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022 aged 18, where his electrifying performance of Rachmaninoff&rsquo;s Piano Concerto No. 3 moved conductor Marin Alsop to tears, Lim&rsquo;s rise has been meteoric.
His debut studio recording, Chopin &Eacute;tudes (Decca Classics, 2024) made history at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2025 as the first artist to take home three awards for one recording. The album also went quadruple Platinum in Korea, won the Diapason d&rsquo;or de l&rsquo;ann&eacute;e in France and topped charts internationally. The Guardian described it as &ldquo;The most thrilling pianistic debut of the last decade.&rdquo;
Lim&rsquo;s second Decca release, his live recording of Rachmaninoff No. 3 (Decca Classics, 2025), the landmark Cliburn performance, is now the most-watched version of the concerto on YouTube with over 17 million views. The Times said Lim is &ldquo;a pianist in complete command of his instrument&rdquo; with The Guardian calling it a recording that &ldquo;deserves a place alongside Argerich and Rachmaninov himself.&rdquo; His third album, Tchaikovsky&rsquo;s The Seasons (Decca Classics, 2025), was praised for its sincerity and vision, with the Financial Times declaring, &ldquo;this new recording edges into the number one spot.&rdquo; and Gramophone writing, &ldquo;Few if any young pianists have shown such unfaltering assurance and never more so than when going against the conventional grain.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Lim&rsquo;s concert appearances have confirmed his standing as a global phenomenon, with sold-out debuts at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the BBC Proms 2024 at The Royal Albert Hall. His NPR Tiny Desk Concert has garnered a million views, with NPR commenting on his &ldquo;powerful command of every note&rdquo; and that he made their upright piano sound like a concert grand, adding, &ldquo;Lim will be enchanting listeners for a long time.&rdquo;
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LIVE:
Lim&rsquo;s 2025&ndash;26 season includes a series of high-profile engagements across the United States, Europe, and Asia. He performs at Santa Cecilia Hall, Rome (13&ndash;15 Nov) and Taipei&rsquo;s National Theater and Concert Hall (25 Nov), before returning to Chicago (18&ndash;20 Dec). Early 2026 brings concerts at Amsterdam&rsquo;s Concertgebouw (15 &amp; 18 Jan), Konzerthaus Dortmund (16 Jan), Kulturpalast Dresden (21 Jan), and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (12&ndash;15 Feb). March sees three Paris appearances at the Philharmonie and Cit&eacute; de la Musique (11&ndash;13 Mar), followed by Boston&rsquo;s Symphony Hall (19&ndash;22 Mar), Carnegie Hall, New York (24 Apr), Seoul Arts Center (12 May), Wigmore Hall, London (29 May), and finally Gewandhaus Leipzig (18&ndash;21 Jun).
The full concert film of Yunchan Lim: Bach, Goldberg Variations &lsquo;LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL&rsquo; will be available on STAGE+ and Carnegie Hall+ starting from February 6th 2026.

Rachmaninoff No. 3 - The Landmark 2022 Van Cliburn Performance That Stunned the World

Today, Decca Classics releases of one of the most talked-about performances in recent classical music history: Lim&rsquo;s electrifying interpretation of Rachmaninoff&rsquo;s Piano Concerto No. 3, recorded live at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, when he was just 18 years old.
This powerful new release follows the runaway success of his debut studio album Chopin &Eacute;tudes, which earned widespread critical acclaim and made headlines last month with a record-breaking three wins at the BBC Music Magazine Awards..
Released in April 2024, Lim&rsquo;s Chopin &Eacute;tudes received wide-spread international recognition &ndash; the album went quadruple Platinum in Korea and won the Diapason d&rsquo;or de l&rsquo;ann&eacute;e in France. Bertrand Boissard praised Lim&rsquo;s "mastery and commitment, his singing and his fantasy", calling the album "an enthralling Chopin, singularly alive".
Dominic Fyfe, Label Director, Decca Classics, says: &ldquo;The creation of a recorded legacy on Decca Classics was at the heart of our conversations with Yunchan from the very beginning. These two albums are already milestones in his career and each affords us the opportunity to own a piece of history. They document his artistry in both live and studio settings, capturing the hypnotic music-making which has become Yunchan's signature.&rdquo;
Lim, now 21, first gained international recognition with this very performance, which conductor Marin Alsop described as showing &ldquo;an old soul, rather than a young performer.&rdquo; Since then, it has become the most-watched version of the concerto on YouTube, with over 17 million views. Mixed and available in Dolby Atmos, the recording will be released on 16 May 2025.
The performance quickly went viral, trending worldwide and surpassing all other recordings of the piece online. It was broadcast on national television in South Korea and featured on global news outlets, making Lim a household name almost overnight. British pianist and jury member Sir Stephen Hough called him &ldquo;a preposterously gifted pianist... he understood the rhetoric, the scope, the personality of Liszt. It isn&rsquo;t speed but a kind of inner charisma.&rdquo; Fellow juror Jean-Efflam Bavouzet said, &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t talk, but our eyes said it all,&rdquo; while Anne-Marie McDermott shared, &ldquo;About halfway through the first movement&hellip; we just knew: we&rsquo;re experiencing something magical here.&rdquo;
Newly-announced Head of Decca Classics, Jenny Murphy, says: &ldquo;From his debut album alone and aged just 21, Yunchan Lim is one of the fastest streaming classical artists in history, and has one of the most diverse audiences in the genre. The fact he has achieved this with music that&rsquo;s been recorded hundreds of times before and written nearly 200 years ago is testament to his talent and the way audiences are drawn to his enigmatic performances. We couldn&rsquo;t be more excited to have had such a successful start to Decca Classics&rsquo; collaboration with Yunchan.&rdquo;
The global press has continued to celebrate his artistry. The Times described him as "a pianist in complete command of his instrument", while the Daily Mail called his recordings "astonishing", comparing him to legends such as Ashkenazy and Pollini.
His 2024 BBC Proms debut at London&rsquo;s Royal Albert Hall was the fastest-selling concert of the season. The Guardian described it as "the most thrilling pianistic debut of the last decade&rdquo; and called his encore performance of Bach&rsquo;s Siciliano "an undeniably magical moment of the season".
In November 2024, Lim performed a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRQR5foSUSI">Tiny Desk Concert for NPR</a>, featuring works by Liszt and Tchaikovsky. Despite feeling slightly under the weather, his performance was widely praised for its depth and sensitivity. NPR noted his "powerful command of every note", adding that he made their upright piano sound like a concert grand.
Lim&rsquo;s 2025 schedule has seen further acclaim. He was appointed Artist-in-Residence at the Tongyeong International Music Festival, South Korea&rsquo;s leading classical event. His performances of Bach&rsquo;s Goldberg Variations at The Conrad in California were widely praised. The San Francisco Chronicle called it "a fearless, uncompromising display of breathtaking musicianship".
He also received outstanding reviews for appearances with the New York Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra. Bachtrack described his Chopin with the New York Philharmonic as "an object lesson in tastefully conveying the wide-ranging lyricism of Chopin&rsquo;s music". Seen and Heard International reported "thunderous and relentless" ovations during his performance with the LSO. Lim received rave reviews for his performance of the Goldberg Variations at Wigmore Hall. The Financial Times said, &ldquo;Heard Live, in the excitement of the moment, this Goldberg Variations was a breathtaking ride on the big dipper.&rdquo; Yunchan Lim returns to Carnegie Hall on 25 April to perform the Goldberg Variations. He returns to London on 20 May to appear at the Royal Albert Hall.

After a Global Race Decca Classics Signs Yunchan Lim

&nbsp;THE PIANIST &ldquo;WITH THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS&rdquo; *
&nbsp;&ldquo;I will live my life only for the sake of music&rdquo; Yunchan Lim
Decca Classics is delighted to announce the exclusive signing of South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim, after following him across the globe for his much sought-after signature. International record company executives travelled to Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, London, New York and Seoul to meet with Yunchan and bring him to the legendary label.
It was last year that the then 18-year-old &ldquo;stunned the music world&rdquo; (The New York Times) and made history by becoming the youngest ever winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Texas. Yunchan&rsquo;s final performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 not only moved the conductor, Marin Alsop, to tears on stage, but skyrocketed on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPJL488cfRw">YouTube</a>, trending at #24 globally and garnering over 12 million views, making it the most-watched rendition of the work on the platform. Critics also praised the astounding interpretation stating he was an &ldquo;immediate sensation&rdquo; and, &ldquo;a star was born&rdquo; (The New York Times).
Yunchan hit the headlines, was catapulted to stardom beyond the classical world and became a national hero in Korea overnight. The media buzz and fan reaction continued, with listeners describing Yunchan&rsquo;s playing as &ldquo;life-changing&rdquo;. His success so far, coupled with his magnetic stage presence, has inspired a cult following worldwide &ndash; sparking multiple fan pages and his face printed on unofficial T-shirts &ndash; and he has been referred to by the press as &ldquo;classical music's answer to K-pop&rdquo;.
Here is a musician who transcends boundaries and seeks to connect with audiences on a profound level. The Critic aptly reports, &ldquo;Yunchan plays the notes - all of them - as pathways to a surreal elsewhere&rdquo;, as International Piano states the teenager has &ldquo;the whole world in his hands&rdquo;.
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Yunchan&rsquo;s ascent in the world of classical music has been meteoric and the young pianist is busier than ever, with his upcoming Carnegie Hall debut and performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris alongside label-mate Klaus M&auml;kel&auml;, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Music Director Vasily Petrenko.
Critics and audiences alike have been consistently enchanted by Yunchan Lim&rsquo;s performances. From his captivating appearances at renowned stages including the David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center and the Hollywood Bowl, to his celebrated London debut at Wigmore Hall, leaving no doubt that he is a &ldquo;one-in-a-million talent&rdquo; (Dallas Morning News). The Wigmore Hall&rsquo;s live stream of the sold-out recital has already been viewed more than 100,000 times, with The Times stating, &ldquo;If ever a young pianist made his London debut trailing clouds of glory, it was this 18-year-old South Korean.&rdquo;
After releasing his first post-competition work, a live recording album of Beethoven&rsquo;s Emperor concerto with the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra on Universal Music Korea and going Platinum within hours, Lim is set to release his debut Decca album in spring 2024. Reflecting on his journey Yunchan says, &ldquo;I made up my mind that I will live my life only for the sake of music, and I decided that I will give up everything for music&hellip; I wanted my music to become deeper, and if that desire reached the audience, I'm satisfied.&rdquo;
Decca Classics Label Director, Dominic Fyfe and Executive Producer, Helen Rogers say, &ldquo;Decca is home to the legacies of some of the greatest pianists on record: from Arrau and Ashkenazy to Brendel, Backhaus and Uchida. With Yunchan we begin a new chapter, one which looks back to that golden age of pianism but which also promises to set a gold standard for the future. We are privileged that Yunchan has chosen to make his home with Decca Classics and look forward to a long and storied relationship.&rdquo;
Yunchan says, &ldquo;Decca has produced records with excellent sound quality, and has worked with numerous legendary musicians. It's a record label that one can truly appreciate as a musician.&rdquo;
Decca Co-President Tom Lewis remarks, &ldquo;Yunchan is, quite simply, the most exciting new classical artist on the planet. It took a global mission to secure his signature and bring him to Decca Classics. Tickets to his concerts already sell out in seconds, such is the level of excitement around him. He is a once-in-a-generation talent and we are so excited that he chose us.&rdquo;
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About Yunchan Lim
Born in Siheung, Korea, Yunchan Lim's musical journey began at the age of 7. He quickly immersed himself in his studies, and at age 13, he was accepted into the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts, where he met his teacher and mentor, Minsoo Sohn. Yunchan's international debut came in 2018 when he won awards at the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists. His talent continued to shine, and by the age of 15, he was the youngest to win Korea's IsangYun International Competition.
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*International Piano (&ldquo;the whole world in his hands&rdquo;)
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Yunchan Lim - News | Decca Classics

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