Ludwig Van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21, Waldstein & Piano Sonata No. 29, Hammerklavier Sunwook Kim

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Piano Sonata No. 21, C Major, Op. 53 Waldstein:
• 1 Allegro Con Brio 10:34
• 2 Introduzione 04:44
• 3 Rondo 10:12
• Piano Sonata No. 29, B-Flat Major, Op. 106 Hammerklavier:
• 4 Allegro 11:00
• 5 Scherzo 02:52
• 6 Adagio Sostenuto 14:33
• 7 Largo / Allegro Risoluto 12:21
• Total Runtime 01:06:16

Info for Ludwig Van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21, Waldstein & Piano Sonata No. 29, Hammerklavier

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. He has established a reputation as one of the finest pianists of his generation, appearing as a concerto soloist in the subscription series of some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Radio‐France Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Hallé Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (for his BBC Proms debut in Summer

2014) and many more. As a recitalist, Sunwook Kim is a regular guest at Salle Pleyel and Philharmonie in Paris, and has also made noted appearances at the Wigmore Hall, the London International Piano Series (Queen Elizabeth Hall), Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, Kioi Hall in Tokyo, Symphony Hall Osaka, Seoul Arts Centre, Brussels Klara Festival, Beethoven‐Haus Bonn, Klavier‐Festival Ruhr and Mecklenburg‐Vorpommern Festspiele.

Besides Leeds, international awards include the first prize at the 2004 Ettlingen Competition (Germany) and the 2005 Clara Haskil Competition (Switzerland). In 2013, Sunwook was selected by the Beethoven‐Haus Bonn to become the first beneficiary of its new Mentoring Programme, a status which grants him exclusive access to the house’s unique collections and resources.

“The Waldstein is…quite impressive, with its dazzling opening movement thrown off with apparent ease, the slow introduction to the finale admirably sustained, and the controversial blurred pedal effects of the concluding rondo itself intelligently handled” (BBC Music Magazine)

“[Sunwook Kim] has chosen two of Beethoven's big pyrotechnic showpieces; or at least this is the aspect his playing highlights. Textures are phenomenally clear throughout - the octave glissandos in the finale of the Waldstein, for instance, are despatched with consummate ease - and if anything in the Hammerklavier made Kim sweat, you wouldn't know it…hats off.” (Gramophone Magazine)

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 Sonata No. 21, Waldstein & Piano Sonata No. 29, Hammerklavier