Pianist Yunchan Lim exploded onto the international music scene in 2022 when he won the gold medal at the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, joining the ranks of past winners like Radu Lupu and Olga Kern. Yunchan Lim in the final round of the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June 2022 © The Cliburn via AP Yunchan Lim was born in March 2004 in South Korea and studies at the Korea National University of Arts. His first big victory on the international competition circuit came in 2018 when he won the second prize at the Cleveland International …

The Leeds International Piano Competition is frequently described as “one of the world’s foremost music competitions.” It first launched in 1963 with the aim to discover the finest young pianists, and to prepare them for the challenging and ever-changing professional music environment ahead. To be sure, the Leeds Competition can sport an impressive list of prizewinners, including Murray Perahia, Radu Lupu, Mitsuko Uchida, András Schiff, Lars Vogt, Anna Tsybuleva, Federico Colli, and Eric Lu. Sunwook Kim at Leeds International Piano Competition 2006 And in 2006, the South Korean pianist Sunwook Kim added his name to …

… not everything in the world has or requires a resolution or an answer. Unlike Beethoven, Schubert accepted his fate as it was, and such an acceptance is most evident in his late sonatas. Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-Flat Major, D. 960 – IV. Allegro ma non troppo (Radu Lupu, piano) Chopin once said, ‘Bach is an astronomer, discovering the most marvellous stars. Beethoven challenges the universe. I only try to express the soul and the heart of man.’ We can perhaps draw a parallel here. Schubert neither explored the topics of divinity and religion nor …

… Volodos, have a good ear, so perhaps you should seek work as a piano tuner.” According to Volodos, “I was going nowhere in St. Petersburg. Even my own mother did not realize the enormous talent residing within her son.” Volodos transferred to Moscow and started to work with his first real teacher, Galina Egiazarova. She had been a student of Alexander Goldenweiser, himself a pupil of Alexander Siloti. Early in her career, Egiazarova devoted herself to teaching and she counted Radu Lupu among her students. Egiazarova quickly recognized and nurtured Arcadi’s extraordinary genius, and he

… sonic universe, and I think the older an artist gets the more personal their playing becomes… And hearing has to come first. Everything starts with the ear, and one cannot have a good technique if it does not start from the ear, even in scales and arpeggios. For me, the ear controls and anticipates the intentions of the pianist.” Sadly, as Merlet explains, there are also many listeners who cannot hear “all the subtleties. I don’t think the general public can say why they prefer to hear Radu Lupu rather than Kissin, and yet there …

… the details of the score, Schiff really gets to the heart, soul, and fundamental humanity of Schubert in his playing and brings a compelling intimacy to his performances, even in the largest of concert halls. Franz Schubert: 3 Klavierstücke, D. 946 - No. 2 in E-Flat Major (András Schiff, piano) Radu Lupu Radu Lupu The great Romanian pianist Radu Lupu, who died in April 2022, was described by Gramophone magazine as “A lyricist in a thousand”, who placed Schubert’s music at the centre of his repertoire throughout his career. Sensitive to Schubert’s mercurial moods …

Murray Perahia: Winner in 1972 Leeds International Piano Competition © medici.tv Since its inception, the Leeds International Piano Competition has attained a highly respected reputation as the “most coveted prize in the piano world and internationally acclaimed for introducing some of the greatest pianists of our time”. Renowned artists including Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia launched their careers by taking first prize; Mitsuko Uchida and Sir András Schiff were among the Leeds' prize winners, awarded 2nd and 3rd prize respectively. Since its inauguration event in September 1963, founder Dame Fanny Waterman was at the helm as …

… if halfway through a phrase. There is no discernible “main theme”; instead numerous melodies and themes are tucked in several layers. A skilled interpreter can bring all these layers together to create a coherent whole. Here is Radu Lupu: Johannes Brahms: 2 Rhapsodies, Op. 79 (Radu Lupu, piano) Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini One of the most famous Rhapsodies and an iconic piece in the pianist’s repertoire, Rachmaninoff composed this work for piano and orchestra – in effect a piano concert all in a single movement – at his summer home, Villa Senar in Switzerland …