Born in South Korea, Rira Lim began playing the piano at age four, and at age 14 made her orchestral debut in her native Gwangju. After graduating from Yonsei University in Seoul, she continued her studies at the University of Texas, earning Master and Doctor degrees. She has performed in solo and chamber music in Asia and Europe, and won prizes in several international competitions.
For this recital. Ms. Lim chose an ambitious, unusual program. Even the apparently conventional opening selection was presented in an unfamiliar form: three Scarlatti Sonatas in a “transcription” for piano by Granados, with octaves, thirds, sixths, and “modern” harmonies added to make them more effective and appealing to pianists. More Granados than Scarlatti, they immediately heralded Ms. Lim’s virtuosity and wide dynamic range. Her tone was flawed only by some harshness at full volume, and a tendency to underplay her left hand; she seemed more comfortable with big chords than singing legato lines.
Barber called his Nocturne “Homage to John Fields,” but, as if reflected in a distorting mirror, its romanticism is obscured by atonal and chromatic dissonances. In Barber’s last piano piece, Ballade, written for the Van Cliburn Competition, Ms. Lim moved easily between the different moods, tempos and dynamics.
Malipiero’s four Preludi autumnali, written in 1914, are impressionistic pieces tinged with the somberness of the onset of war. The first two are all florid embellishment, the third is mournful, the fourth is sardonic and agitated. Ms. Lim brought out all these contrasting characteristics admirably.
The program’s piéce de resistance was Liszt’s Sonata, one of the repertoire’s most formidable works. In four continuous movements, it demands not only utmost virtuosity, but utmost physical and mental endurance. The slender young pianist negotiated its crashing chords, fortissimo double octave passages, cascading runs and arpeggios with untiring energy, and still had enough strength left to reward a standing ovation with a hefty encore by William Bolcom.
