Pianist Yunchan Lim has released his new album Bach: Goldberg Variations on the Decca Classics label.

The album was recorded live at Carnegie Hall in April 2025 in front of a sold-out audience. Seventy years early and only a few blocks away, pianist Glenn Gould had made his legendary recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Recording a live performance of the Goldberg Variations, an iconic cornerstone of the keyboard repertoire, had long been a goal for Lim. “The first time I heard Bach’s Goldberg Variations was when I was eight years old and I discovered a box set of Glenn Gould’s Bach recordings," he explained. "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’ve dreamt of releasing this piece as a live album from Carnegie Hall.”

“Following Yunchan’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," said Carnegie Hall Executive and Artistic Director Sir Clive Gilinson. "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.”

Hear the full album below:

 

Pianist Yunchan Lim was the youngest winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at the age of eighteen in 2022, and since then, he has appeared as a soloist with the Washington National, Vienna Radio, Berlin Radio, and London Symphony orchestras as well as the Royal Philharmonic, Cleveland, and Minnesota orchestras. His recordings have been released on the Steinway and Sons, Universal Music Group, and KBS labels, and since 2024, he has been an Apple Music Classical ambassador. Lim is currently a student at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he studies with Minsoo Sohn.