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Showing posts from October, 2016

HJ Lim plays Chopin Ballade n.1 op.23

It appears that the woman playing the piano here has completely lost her mind . . . into that of the Polish Piano God. HJ has done this several times before (see Ravel's 'La Valse', Rachmaninoff's Concertos II and III and Etude Tableaux Op. 39 #5, and others). Here again, in her uniquely powerful, personal, and expressive voice, HJ delivers a performance that in some ways redefines how the music is heard. With striking continuity, this is as spontaneously dramatic of a rendition as I have ever heard. My personal view is that HJ uses her surpassing and surpassingly natural technique to emotionally go inside the music. She then uses that awareness and presence as her primary guide for interpretation - absolutely stunning. This process, HJ's method, is not possible without supreme musical mastery. No artist would even think to set themselves up for such continuous in-the-moment emotional reactions unless EVERY demand on the performer was so much a part their mind a