Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 3 review — spine-tingling recording of Yunchan Lim’s breakout performance

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It is said more than 17mn people have already watched the livestream of this concert. The final of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, when 18-year-old Yunchan Lim took first prize with his performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 3, went viral online.

Since then, his career has skyrocketed, so it is interesting to look back at where it all started. This audio recording, issued on disc for the first time, makes the occasion permanent in a physical sense and provides newly cleaned-up sound quality.

Lim’s solo part easily holds its own against the competition. In general, orchestral and solo recordings are still made in the studio, unlike opera, so to hear a performance of this concerto that is not just live, but spine-tinglingly on the edge, is a different experience.

There is a drive here that sweeps the concerto along, building up an exciting head of steam at climaxes. Only in the most heated passages of the finale does Lim press too hard, though his technique never loses its scintillating dexterity. It is no coincidence that the one pianist who is ferociously ahead of him down the strait is Martha Argerich and her recording of this concerto is also live.

There are various other recordings that offer higher orchestral and technical quality, but Marin Alsop and the adequate Fort Worth Symphony do well to keep up with their soloist. An outburst of applause has been kept at the end. How could it not be?

★★★★☆

‘Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 3’ is released by Decca