J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) Yunchan Lim

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Goldberg Variations, BWV 988:
• 1 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 04:04
• 2 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 1. a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:51
• 3 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 2. a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:28
• 4 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 3. Canone all'Unisono a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 02:02
• 5 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 4. a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:05
• 6 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 5. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:18
• 7 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 6. Canone alla Seconda a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:16
• 8 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 7. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. Al tempo di Giga (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:43
• 9 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 8. a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:44
• 10 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 9. Canone alla Terza a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:49
• 11 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 10. Fughetta a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:43
• 12 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 11. a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 02:01
• 13 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 12. a 1 Clav. Canone alla Quarta in moto contrario (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 02:12
• 14 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 13. a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 05:19
• 15 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 14. a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:59
• 16 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 15. Canone alla Quinta a 1 Clav. Andante (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 05:39
• 17 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 16. Ouverture a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 02:36
• 18 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 17. a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:34
• 19 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 18. Canone alla Sesta a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:34
• 20 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 19. a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:31
• 21 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 20. a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:43
• 22 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 21. Canone alla Settima (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 03:33
• 23 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 22. a 1 Clav. alla breve (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:31
• 24 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 23. a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:59
• 25 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 24. Canone all'Ottava a 1 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 02:50
• 26 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 25. a 2 Clav. Adagio (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 08:35
• 27 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 26. a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:46
• 28 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 27. Canone alla Nona a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 01:46
• 29 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 28. a 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 02:10
• 30 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 29. a 1 ô vero 2 Clav. (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 02:07
• 31 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Var. 30. a 1 Clav. Quodlibet (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 02:01
• 32 Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria da capo (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025) 02:41
• Total Runtime 01:17:10

Info for J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 2025)

Revered for its technical complexity and emotional depth, the (nearly) 300-year-old solo keyboard masterpiece is an established peak for any concert pianist to conquer.

Here Yunchan Lim does just this, with his fourth album since signing with Decca Classics in October 2023. This landmark Carnegie Hall live recording offers a deeply personal vision of Bach’s famous work, and is something Lim has thought about for most of his life so far.

Lim describes the Goldbergs as “a journey of life in music — from the first opening of our eyes in the Aria, through thirty deeply human variations, to the final Aria, when our eyes gently close.” He reminisces, “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. 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.”

Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall, Sir Clive Gillinson, explains in the album sleeve-notes, “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… 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.”

Lim’s interpretation of the Goldbergs has already captivated audiences worldwide and garnered glowing reviews. The Guardian praised his Wigmore Hall performance of the piece for its “youthful vibrancy with interpretative maturity” and the Financial Times noted his “intellectual precision, baroque elegance, expressive balance and virtuosic flair”. Internationally, El País reports that it is “considered by many as the best version of this work currently available.”

Since becoming the youngest-ever winner at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022 aged 18, where his electrifying performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 moved conductor Marin Alsop to tears, Lim’s rise has been meteoric.

His debut studio recording, Chopin Études (Decca Classics, 2024) made history at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2025 as the first artist to take home three awards for one recording. The album also went quadruple Platinum in Korea, won the Diapason d’or de l’année in France and topped charts internationally. The Guardian described it as “The most thrilling pianistic debut of the last decade.”

Lim’s second Decca release, his live recording of Rachmaninoff No. 3 (Decca Classics, 2025), the landmark Cliburn performance, is now the most-watched version of the concerto on YouTube with over 17 million views. The Times said Lim is “a pianist in complete command of his instrument” with The Guardian calling it a recording that “deserves a place alongside Argerich and Rachmaninov himself.” His third album, Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons (Decca Classics, 2025), was praised for its sincerity and vision, with the Financial Times declaring, “this new recording edges into the number one spot.” and Gramophone writing, “Few if any young pianists have shown such unfaltering assurance and never more so than when going against the conventional grain.”

Lim’s concert appearances have confirmed his standing as a global phenomenon, with sold-out debuts at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the BBC Proms 2024 at The Royal Albert Hall. His NPR Tiny Desk Concert has garnered a million views, with NPR commenting on his “powerful command of every note” and that he made their upright piano sound like a concert grand, adding, “Lim will be enchanting listeners for a long time.”

“To me, this piece is the journey of the human life told through music—Bach’s portrayal of existence itself. Performing a piece like this is why I do music.” (Yunchan Lim)

Yunchan Lim, piano

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.