Yunchan Lim recorded the Goldberg Variations dwell at Carnegie Hall final 300 and sixty five days, using the momentum of a scuttle of performances, together with two in London. Other folks who enjoyed his interpretation at Wigmore Hall will fetch plenty of the same rewarding parts right here, now no longer least the seeming ease with which the 21-300 and sixty five days-former pianist untangles the tune’s complex web of threads. Yet it’s correct to search out his interpretation wasn’t position in stone. Perchance the Recent York performance had a more muscular bent, or perchance the hints of romanticism in the later adaptations in London don’t register as strongly on a recording as in the hall.
What is more inserting on the recording is a strength in the faster adaptations that customarily verges on the mechanical: impressive, and a cramped bit overdone. There are touches of playfulness too – when in a pair of the adaptations he switches to a increased octave, the tune sounds prefer it’s on helium, lighter than air. The dumb variation halfway thru is deeply felt, the long 25th variation touchingly refrained from rather staring into the abyss in the capability that some performances invent. This can also very properly be attention-grabbing to hear how Lim’s interpretation of the Goldbergs develops over time, but right here’s a handsome yarn to delivery up with.
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