It was one of the first of this year’s BBC Proms to sell out, making him the season’s fastest-selling debut artist. There were screams as he came on (quickly, neatly) and an arena-full of phones held aloft as he bowed after playing. Two years after winning the Van Cliburn competition aged 18 with a performance that left the conductor brushing away tears and months after his first disc had critics dusting off their superlatives, South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim landed at the Royal Albert Hall.
His vehicle was Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto – its unprecedented scale earning it the English nickname the “Emperor”. Lim’s first entry was gleamingly robust, his return after the orchestral exposition all sweetness and space. His right hand glittered atop the orchestra, his left dropping bass notes of astonishing heft from head-height. His launching into the finale was a brilliant explosion of Viennese oompah – an invitation to dance.
