Yukio Yokoyama - Schumann: Piano Works (2019)

Yukio Yokoyama is the grand man of modern Japanese pianism, having received several laureate titles from international competitions and, now, dedicated to performing piano music of the Romanticism period and to projects that go in-depth in introducing composers of the era. Yokoyama graduated from Conservatoire de Paris in 1990 at 19 years old with a Premier Prix award, the same year he came third in the noted Chopin Competition in Warsaw (first place was not handed out) and received an award for best sonata performance. The pianist dedicated himself to performing Chopin’s music in 2010, the year that marked 200 years from the composer’s birth. Yokoyama performed a 24-hour concert, playing all piano pieces chronological to their creation released both when Chopin was alive and posthumously. For that, Yokoyama was granted a Guinness World Record in the category of most pieces of music performed by a solo artist in 24 hours. Today, Yokoyama has many more ambitious plans, participating in performing and recording the piano creation of Beethoven, which will, of course, culminate in 2020, the 250th anniversary of birth of Beethoven.