Yunchan Lim, Iván Fischer and the Concertgebouw Orchestra: Liszt

Yunchan Lim plays Liszt

Yunchan Lim is currently the up-and-coming star of the piano world. If you witnessed his sensational Concertgebouw Orchestra debut in January 2026, you know it’s no hype! One year later, he’s back with the orchestra again. Franz Liszt’s spectacular Second Piano Concerto is sure to showcase the full range of the young South Korean’s pianism. But the concerto is about much more than just virtuosity. Liszt tells a romantic story in which the themes function as characters. They find themselves in all sorts of situations, clash with one another and even form alliances. And of course, the ever-capricious Liszt wouldn’t be Liszt without an unexpected twist to all the drama. Conductor Iván Fischer juxtaposes the piano concerto with two high points from the early Romantic period. Carl Maria von Weber ushered in a new era in opera with his innovative Der Freischütz. The overture weaves melodies from the opera into an independent orchestral work, which has remained successful to this day.

Schubert's Symphony No. 9

In his sublime Ninth Symphony, Schubert takes the orchestra out of its comfort zone, giving the wind section in particular unusually intense parts. The symphony would not be performed until eleven years after Schubert’s death. In fact, it was Robert Schumann who found the manuscript and recognised the work as a masterpiece. ‘All the instruments were like human voices, and immensely full of life and wit,’ he wrote. This is Schubert at the peak of his powers: pure bliss!