Winner takes all

Competitions may be 'for horses', as Bartók once claimed, but they're a useful promotional tool, writes Claire Jackson, and sometimes they reveal a real star

- Claire Jackson

At a glance, the young pianist appears frozen in time, a still portrait quite at odds with the dancing carnival of sound that fills the KKL Luzern. The months pass by, and February's ebullience bows to an August harvest: in Yunchan Lim’s hands, Tchaikovsky's Seasons reveal a deeper cyclical wisdom. Lucerne’s Le Piano Symphonique — Switzerland’s musical Toblerone, with grandee Martha Argerich at its peak — welcomes the best pianists in the world, and Lim, just 21, is one of them. After the recital, fans flock to bestow cuddly toys upon the Korean wunderkind.

The industry soon followed, with Lim's debut album (Chopin Études on Decca) winning three BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2025 (Recording of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and the Instrumental Award — the first time a single album has received three awards in one helping since the ceremony’s inauguration in 2006, and the first time a Newcomer award winner has also received Recording of the Year).

Yet until recently, Lim was virtually unknown, quietly living out of the spotlight while he studied at the Korea National University of Arts. Then came his participation in the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Texas, where his pianism attracted more than the gold medal - Lim's performance of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto is now the most-watched version of that work online, with more than 17m views. He has management, a recording label, concert schedule, publicity — all while still a student, now at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.