Yunchan Lim – Chopin Études (UHQCD)

South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim makes his debut with Chopin’s Etudes. In 2022, at the age of 18, he became the youngest ever winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and went on to win prizes at other international competitions.

He signed a contract with DECCA Classics in 2023. His first release features Chopin’s Twelve Exercises, Opus 10 and Opus 25, and marks the beginning of a promising career. The recording was made at London’s Henry Wood Hall in 2023.

UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to the softer photopolymer for scratch protection. The combination results in significantly reduced reflection of laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with standard CD players. Musically, the result is a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.

While Universal Music Japan’s first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, with increasing popularity, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now appearing. Typically, the Universal Archive master tapes are re-converted to DSD for this purpose. UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not own an SACD player.

Lista pieselor

Frédéric Chopin

1.-12. Études Op.10

13.-24. Études Op. 25