Grand prize winner of the 2021 edition of the Montreal International Music Competition dedicated to piano, Su Yeon Kim offers a tribute to the Mozart repertoire on her first solo album. In the artist’s words: “Mozart’s music is full of life, power and encompasses the vast spectrum of human emotions and transcends the boundaries between eras and cultures.” This affection for his music is palpable when listening to this opus, in which Kim displays all the technical and artistic mastery worthy of a concert artist accustomed to recitals. Our ears are treated with care to a repertoire that may well be considered conservative in form – the popular sonatas No. 9 in D major and No. 12 in F major are a good example – but which also contains some of the composer’s lesser-known pieces, such as extracts from the Twelve Contredanses for Count Czernin, the Adagio in B minor and the Variations on “Unser dummer Pöbel meint” from an opera by Glück.
Varied in the genres, Su Yeon Kim treats each piece with a coherent energy of her own. The nuances are expressive, the musical lines clear and fueled by a careful touch and dynamic articulations in both the more virtuosic passages and those calling for more delicacy. Beyond the obvious mastery of her instrument, the appeal of this album lies in the sense of form that Kim gives to Mozart’s works and interpretations: interpretations that we look forward to seeing in the future with an even wider expressive repertoire.
