Tchaikovsky: The Seasons Yunchan Lim

• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893): The Seasons, Op. 37a:
• 1 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: I. January. By the Fireside. Moderato semplice ma espressivo 05:19
• 2 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: II. February. Carnaval. Allegro giusto 02:47
• 3 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: III. March. Song of the Lark. Andantino espressivo 02:50
• 4 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: IV. April. Snowdrop. Allegretto con moto e un poco rubato 02:34
• 5 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: V. May. White Nights. Andantino 04:14
• 6 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: VI. June. Barcarolle. Andante cantabile 04:50
• 7 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: VII. July. Song of the Reaper. Allegro moderato con moto 01:45
• 8 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: VIII. August. The Harvest. Allegro vivace 03:17
• 9 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: IX. September. The Hunt. Allegro non troppo 02:47
• 10 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: X. October. Autumn Song. Andante doloroso e molto cantabile 05:55
• 11 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: XI. November. Troïka. Allegro moderato 03:18
• 12 Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a: XII. December. Christmas. Tempo di valse 04:44
• Total Runtime 44:20

Info for Tchaikovsky: The Seasons

Yunchan Lim releases his new album "Tchaikovsky: The Seasons" – available on 22. August. Lim shares a deeply personal and thoughtful interpretation of one of Tchaikovsky’s most intimate piano works. Recorded live at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, Yunchan views the twelve pieces not merely as a set of months, but as a story portraying someone’s final year of life.

This follows the release of one of the most talked-about events in recent classical music. Yunchan Lim’s live performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, when he was just 18. The recording was praised by The Guardian, which wrote, “The prodigious South Korean talent won 2022’s Van Cliburn piano competition with this performance; his version deserves a place alongside Argerich and Rachmaninoff himself,” and added, “He is the real thing, a once-in-a-generation talent… it’s hard to believe that this is the performance of an 18-year-old.”

That recording, along with his debut studio album of Chopin Études, received wide critical acclaim. This year, the Études made headlines with three record-breaking wins at the BBC Music Magazine Awards.

To Lim, The Seasons tells the story of a life coming to its end. Each piece reflects a different moment or feeling, from sadness and quiet thought to joy, love and peace. The music begins with a man sitting by the fire, thinking about the past, and ends with a peaceful farewell.

In the 2023 to 2024 concert season, his live performances of the work received glowing reviews from both critics and audiences.

Diapason wrote, “The beauty and mastery over the piano contains something almost unreal… one would never have believed that The Seasons could produce such an effect on the audience.” Die Nieuwe Muze said, “Lim is a sincere musician who, once seated at the piano, becomes one with his instrument and plays the music because he experiences it that way and not otherwise.”

Lim says: “Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons shows the final year of a human’s life. The first piece, ‘By the Hearth,’ shows a fire slowly dying in the fireplace. It begins with a man who is lost in memories, feeling sadness for no clear reason. Then new experiences bring hope. Strong feelings and tears turn into daydreams as the smoke from a cigarette curls through the air. While crying, he falls asleep, pulled into forgotten memories and always hesitating at the edge of the past. But then he returns to the present, accepts everything, and as the bell rings, he closes the day that will never come again.”

The album artwork, created by Ho-yeon Choi and titled How Much Do the Petals Weigh?, reflects the feelings and questions at the heart of the music. It invites listeners to think about moments of beauty and struggle and to ask the quiet but powerful question: What keeps me alive?

Yunchan Lim, piano

Please Note: we do not offer the 192 kHz version of this album, because there is no considerable or audible difference to the 96 kHz version!

Yunchan Lim
launched onto the international music stage when he was 14. He won Second Prize and the Chopin Special Award in his first-ever competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists in 2018. The following year, at age 15, he was the youngest to win Korea’s IsangYun International Competition, where he also took home two special prizes. 2022 has brought more accolades; just weeks ago, Yunchan was named Gold Medalist at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (USA). He has performed across South Korea—including with the Korean Orchestra Festival, Korea Symphony, Suwon Philharmonic, and Busan Philharmonic Orchestras, among others—as well as in Madrid, at the invitation of the Korea Cultural Center in Spain. Yunchan currently studies at the Korea National University of Arts with Minsoo Sohn.

This album contains no booklet.