VFO / LAHAV SHANI / YUNCHAN LIM / MINSOO SOHN
Since his triumph at the Van Cliburn Competition in 2022, Yunchan Lim has become a global piano phenomenon. Identified early by the Verbier Festival, he will once again perform this year alongside his mentor, Minsoo Sohn, interpreting Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos. In the second half, Lahav Shani will conduct Bruckner’s magnificent Symphony No. 7, certainly one of his favorite works, as evidenced by his recording of the piece released on Warner, already regarded as a reference by critics.
Programme
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)
Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in E-flat major K. 365
Interval
ANTON BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 7 in E major WAB 107
Artist(s)
- Verbier Festival Orchestra
- Lahav Shani conductor
- Yunchan Lim piano
- Minsoo Sohn piano
Yunchan Lim and teacher Minsoo Sohn play Strauss, Rosenkavalier Suite at Verbier Festival 2025
Mystical, grandiose, poignant: it is in the Seventh Symphony that Bruckner best achieves the fusion of the different components of his work. The first theme, played by the cellos, is unfathomably profound, rivalled only by the Adagio of the same symphony. Conceived as a Requiem for Wagner, it is built around the powerful theme of his ‘Te Deum’, and uses
Tuba-Wagner, an instrument close to the horn he had conceived for his ‘Tetralogy’. At 36, Lahav Shani has established himself as a champion of this repertoire, which he studied with his mentor Daniel Barenboim.
Many years before Bruckner, Mozart was also very attuned to the technological advances of his time: and for his Concerto in E flat, he included trumpets, timpani and clarinets in the orchestra, an instrument he fell in love with. Composed for himself and his sister Nannerl, the work is full of tenderness and exquisite poetry, delicately underscored by the complicity of Minsoo Sohn and Yunchan Lim.