Ludwig Van Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Sunwook Kim

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Piano Sonata No. 8, Op. 13 in C Minor, Pathétique:
• 1 Grave. Allegro Di Molto E Con Brio 09:50
• 2 Adagio Cantabile 05:11
• 3 Rondo. Allegro 04:37
• Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27/2 in C-Sharp Minor, Moonlight:
• 4 Adagio Sostenuto 05:09
• 5 Allegretto 02:18
• 6 Presto Agitato 07:11
• Piano Sonata No. 23, Op. 57 in F Minor, Appassionata:
• 7 Allegro Assai 10:35
• 8 Andante Con Moto 06:47
• 9 Allegro Ma Non Troppo 08:11
• Total Runtime 59:49

Info for Ludwig Van Beethoven: Piano Sonatas

After his first recording featuring Beethoven's piano sonatas No. 21(“Waldstein”) and No. 29 ("Hammerklavier"), Sunwook Kim’s third solo CD with Accentus Music presents an impressive interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s three most well-known piano sonatas: "Pathétique" (No. 8), "Moonlight Sonata" (No. 14), and "Appassionata" (No. 23).

Sunwook Kim, who won the first prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006, has matured to become a subtle and accomplished Beethoven specialist – not least thanks to his partnership with the Beethoven House in Bonn, whose unique collection he regularly consults in his preparation of Beethoven's works. Sunwook Kim stays close to the original score, yet nevertheless provides a very personal interpretation, which reveals a new and exceptional reading that stands out from the abundance of existing recordings of these three piano sonatas.

Sunwook Kim, piano

Sunwook Kim
London-based Sunwook Kim came to international recognition when he won the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006, aged just 18, becoming the competition’s youngest winner for 40 years, as well as its first Asian winner. His performance of Brahms’s Concerto No.1 with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder in the competition’s finals attracted unanimous praise from the press.

Future highlights include recitals at the International Piano Series in London (Queen Elizabeth Hall), at the Roque d’Antheron International Piano Festival, at the Salle Pleyel’s prestigious “Piano 4 Etoiles” series in Paris, in Aix-en-Provence, and at the Seoul Arts Centre. As a concerto soloist, he returns to the Philharmonia Orchestra (Mozart K491 with Edward Gardner), the Hallé Orchestra (Chopin 2, Prokofiev 3 and Brahms 2 with Sir Mark Elder), the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven Triple and Rachmaninov 3 with Kiril Karabits), the RTSI Orchestra in Lugano (Beethoven 3 with Vladimir Ashkenazy), the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France (Unsuk Chin piano concerto), as well as a debut project with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen on tour in Korea (Schumann with Paavo Järvi) and extensive touring in Europe and the United States with the Seoul Philharmonic and Myung-Whun Chung.

Sunwook Kim’s second recording for Deutsche Grammophon, featuring Unsuk Chin’s Piano Concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic and Myung-Whun Chung, was released in May 2014. In 13/14, Sunwook also gave the world premiere performance of the work at a festival dedicated to Unsuk Chin at the Konserthuset in Stockholm, and the German premiere with the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg.

The past two years were packed with many other exciting developments for Sunwook, including an acclaimed debut at the BBC Proms (Beethoven 3 with Bournemouth Symphony / Kiril Karabits), return projects with the London Symphony Orchestra (Prokofiev 2 with Daniel Harding), Helsinki Radio Symphony (Beethoven 4 with Andrew Manze), Philharmonia Orchestra (Beethoven 4 with Juraj Valcuha) and the Seoul Philharmonic (Beethoven 5 with Myung-Whun Chung), as well as recitals at Salle Pleyel in Paris, to a sold-out house at Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn and on tour in Japan. He also completed a widely praised complete Beethoven sonata cycle at the LG Arts Centre in Seoul, and his debut recording, featuring Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, was released on Deutsche Grammophon.

Booklet for Ludwig Van Beethoven: Piano Sonatas