Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 [Yunchan Lim]

Accompanied by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30. Conductor: Marin Alsop. Recorded during the Final Round of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 17, 2022, where Lim won the gold medal and became the youngest-ever pianist who won the competition (at the age of 18). Lim also took two special prizes. An amazing performance from the brilliant young pianist, enjoy!

Accompanied by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30. Final Round of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition 2022 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3

Composed in 1909, the work is widely regarded as one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire.

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, piano, and strings. It is in three movements. With start times in the video:

  1. 00:30 Allegro ma non-tanto (D minor): The first movement revolves around a diatonic melody that soon develops into complex pianistic figuration. The second theme opens with quiet exchanges between the orchestra and the piano before fully diving into a slower theme in a major key. The first part of the first theme is restated before the movement is pulled into a loud development section which opens with toccata-like quavers in the piano and reaches a loud chordal section. The whole development exhibits features similar to a canon, such as an eighth note passage in the piano in which the left hand and the right hand play overlapping figures. The movement reaches a number of ferocious climaxes, especially in the cadenza. Rachmaninoff wrote two versions of this cadenza: the chordal original, which is commonly notated as the ossia, and a second one with a lighter, toccata-like style. Both cadenzas lead into a quiet solo section where the flute, clarinet, and horn restate the first theme of the exposition, accompanied by delicate arpeggios in the piano. The cadenza then ends quietly, but the piano alone continues to play a quiet development of the exposition’s second theme before leading to the recapitulation, where the first theme is restated by the piano, with the orchestra accompanying, soon closing with a quiet, rippling coda reminiscent of the second theme.
  2. 17:56 Intermezzo: Adagio (F sharp minor/D flat major): The second movement is opened by the orchestra and it consists of a number of variations around a single lush, heavily romantic melody following one another without a rigid scheme. The melody soon moves to the tonic major which is the second theme. After the first theme development and recapitulation of the second theme, the main melody from the first movement reappears, before the movement is closed by the orchestra in a manner similar to the introduction. Then the piano gets the last word with a short “cadenza-esque” passage which moves into the last movement without pause. Many melodic thoughts of this movement allude to Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto, third movement, noticeably the Russian-like, E-flat major melody.
  3. 28:51 Finale: Alla breve (D minor → D major): The finale of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is quick and vigorous and contains variations on many of the themes that are used in the first movement, which unites the concerto cyclically. However, after the first and second themes, it diverges from the regular sonata-allegro form. There is no conventional development; that segment is replaced by a lengthy digression using the major key of the third movement’s first theme, which leads to the two themes from the first movement. After the digression, the movement recapitulation returns to the original themes, building up to a toccata climax somewhat similar but lighter than the first movement’s ossia cadenza and accompanied by the orchestra. The movement concludes with a triumphant and passionate second theme melody in D major. The piece ends with the same four-note rhythm – claimed by some to be the composer’s musical signature – as the composer’s second concerto.

Yunchan Lim

Yunchan Lim performs Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3
Accompanied by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 during the Final Round of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 17, 2022, where Lim won the gold medal and became the youngest-ever pianist who won the competition (at the age of 18).

Yunchan Lim (born: March 20, 2004) is a classical pianist from Siheung, South Korea.

In 2018, Lim won second prize and the Chopin Special Award at the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists. The same year, he was the youngest participant in the Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition where he won third prize and the audience prize. In 2019, he became the youngest-ever winner of the Isang Yun Competition at 15 years old.

In June 2022, he was the youngest to win the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas where he also took two special prizes. He additionally won US$100,000 and career management for three years.

Lim has performed with orchestras such as the Korea Symphony, Suwon Philharmonic, Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and others.

Lim currently studies at the Korea National University of Arts under Minsoo Sohn.

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres
M. Özgür Nevres

I am Özgür Nevres, a software engineer, a former road racing cyclist, and also an amateur musician. I opened andantemoderato.com to share my favorite music. I also take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

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