The Strad Magazine (November 2022 edition): Review of Naxos CD Digital Mist
The Strad Issue: November 2022
Description: Atmosphere aplenty in this wide-ranging recital
Musicians: Patrick Yim (violin) Kiu Tung Poon (piano) Sebastian Currier (sound samples)
Works: Works by George Tsontakis, Sebastian Currier, Nathan Currier and Chen Yi
Catalogue number: NAXOS 8.559903
It’s a pretty personal selection of US violin music from the past four decades that Honolulu-born Patrick Yim has chosen for this eclectic but rewarding disc. And though, taken from end to end, it adds up to a bit of a disconcerting listen, the wide-ranging repertoire nonetheless serves to show up many sides of Yim’s deeply expressive, finely nuanced playing. He’s faithful to the quicksilver mood swings of George Tsontakis’s aphoristic, expressionistic Three Sighs, Three Variations, for example, and tackles the scattergun musical allusions and quotations (from Schubert via Rachmaninoff to Messiaen and beyond) within Nathan Currier’s Hush Cries the Lamb in a way that almost makes sense of the composer’s restlessly shifting music.
The disc’s highlight is the piece that gives it its title, by Nathan’s brother Sebastian: his accompanying sound samples act like an enormous piano sustaining pedal, amplifying, transforming and even sometimes prefiguring the sounds produced by Yim and pianist Kiu Tung Poon, who’s an effective presence throughout. The result is a haunted, atmospheric work, one that slips in and out of tonality, and which allows Yim a real opportunity to display his immaculate technique, with expressive, ever-changing vibrato and minutely considered tonal variations matching the music’s fluctuating emotions.
Three short pieces by Chen Yi round off the disc, offering contrasting evocations of traditional Chinese music, nimbly played by Yim. One note of warning: the extremely close recording captures every detail of bowing, vibrato and phrasing, shining a fierce spotlight on Yim’s impressive technique, but in a somewhat cold, analytical manner that doesn’t offer much warmth or resonance.
DAVID KETTLE
REVIEW from THE WHOLE NOTE by Ivana Popovic
Published February 24, 2020
Memory – Patrick Yim plays works for solo violin
Patrick Yim
Navona Records nv6268 (navonarecords.com)
Championing contemporary works for violin by living composers has become an integral part of Patrick Yim’s performing career in recent years. This Honolulu-born violinist displays both dazzling technique and passionate interpretations of solo violin works on his new release, Memory. Among five pieces, four are commissioned for this occasion and premiered on the album, and three are inspired by Miles Upon Miles: World Heritage Along the Silk Road, an exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of History.
Memory features works by a talented array of composers – Chen Yi, Kai-Young Chan, Yao Chen, Austin Yip and Michael-Thomas Foumai. Their music is both an engaging showcase of inventive musical ideas and treatises on contemporary violin techniques. Through the exploration of cultural identity and the role of memory in preserving it, they bring out a delicate tapestry of ideas on the significance of sound in both past and present-day settings. Field recordings processed through granular synthesis in combination with amplified violin in Miles Upon Miles by Yip is a perfect example of accord between relics of the past and rich expressions of the modern language.
Yim is very attuned to each of these pieces. His skill in highlighting the minute nuances and details is fiercely supported by an understanding of the musical language and ideas of each composer. His sound is encompassing and penetrating at times, lyrical and poetic when needed, adding a special dimension to this album.
Sulzbach-Rosenberger Zeitung (Germany, August 6, 2019)
The Telegraph (India, June 20, 2019)
The Morning Standard (India, April 26, 2019)
Ta Kung Pao (Hong Kong SAR, April 11, 2019)
Ta Kung Pao (Hong Kong SAR, December 15, 2018)
Ta Kung Pao (Hong Kong SAR, October 30, 2018)
Patrick Yim, violinist 
