Tae-Hyung Kim - Echoes in the Mists (2026) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert S. 558: VII. Frühlingsglaube
02. Waldszenen, Op. 82: I. Eintritt
03. Waldszenen, Op. 82: II. Jäger auf der Lauer
04. Waldszenen, Op. 82: III. Einsame Blumen
05. Waldszenen, Op. 82: IV. Verrufene Stelle
06. Waldszenen, Op. 82: V. Freundliche Landschaft
07. Waldszenen, Op. 82: VI. Herberge
08. Waldszenen, Op. 82: VII. Vogel als Prophet
09. Waldszenen, Op. 82: VIII. Jagdlied
10. Waldszenen, Op. 82: IX. Abschied
11. 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert S. 558: IX. Ständchen von Shakespeare
12. Müllerlieder von Franz Schubert S. 565: II. Der Müller und der Bach
13. V mlhách (In the Mists): I. Andante
14. V mlhách (In the Mists): II. Molto Adagio
15. V mlhách (In the Mists): III. Andantino
16. V mlhách (In the Mists): IV. Presto
17. 12 Lieder von Franz Schubert S. 558: VIII. Gretchen am Spinnrade
18. Müllerlieder von Franz Schubert S. 565: V. Wohin?

Tae-Hyung Kim’s Echoes in the Mists is a poetic journey through a century of piano music, tracing a line from early Romanticism to early modernism. The album opens with Franz Liszt’s masterful transcriptions of Schubert’s Lieder—works that preserve the songs’ lyrical intimacy while expanding their expressive possibilities on the piano. These include Frühlingsglaube, Ständchen von Shakespeare, and excerpts from Die schöne Müllerin, where Liszt illuminates Schubert’s emotional worlds with subtle pianistic colour and occasional virtuosic flourish.

At the heart of the programme lies Robert Schumann’s Waldszenen, a deeply introspective cycle in which nine miniature scenes form an imaginative, poetic walk through an inner forest—alternating between joy, mystery, tenderness, and melancholy. Through this selection, Kim highlights the richly interconnected sound worlds of Schubert, Schumann, and Liszt, revealing both continuity and evolution within the Romantic tradition.

The album’s second half turns toward a different aesthetic with Leoš Janáček’s V mlhách (In the Mists), written in 1912, a work shaped by personal grief and the composer’s late-style search for distilled expression. Its four movements form a single, mist-shrouded psychological landscape, where fragmentary motives, speech-like rhythms, and shifting tonal colours create a fragile, introspective atmosphere. While faint traces of Debussy’s influence may be heard—particularly in the luminous openings and closings—the music remains unmistakably Janáček’s in its tension, fatalism, and emotional immediacy. By juxtaposing these radically different composers, Kim creates an album that reflects the transformation of piano writing from Romantic lyricism to early modern expression, inviting listeners to hear how echoes of the past resonate through changing musical languages.

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