Recording of the Year: Hun-Joung Lim / Korean Symphony Orchestra Bruckner Cycle / Decca (Korea)

In our letter to Decca and to the Korean Symphony Orchestra, Society President, Benjamin Korstvedt wrote: We recognize these recordings as a pioneering achievement. It is the first complete Bruckner cycle to have been recorded by Korean musicians and released commercially for widespread distribution. This is an excellent representation of the growing success of Bruckner’s music in Korea. We also appreciate that Maestro Lim has given us splendid recordings of rarely heard editions of the First, Second and Fifth Symphonies. Above all, we salute Maestro Lim’s interpretation of the nine symphonies, which are consistently compelling and musically rigorous. The orchestral performances are very fine, too. The Korean Symphony Orchestra performs with a palpable level of commitment. Indeed, the performances clearly capture a wonderful voyage of musical discovery, which befits such a pioneering project. As a result, these recordings convey both the power and the expressiveness of these great works in a way that is both rare and treasurable. All in all, we find this to be a set of recordings of the highest quality. It is a most valuable addition to the discography.