Jinhyung Park, winner of the 2023 Jaén Prize International Piano Competition, explores the multifaceted nature of his instrument in this meeting of three 19th-century masters. Brahms’s Handel Variations – a birthday gift to Clara Schumann – employs an infinite variety of pianistic and motivic devices, while Granados’s Los requiebros is a dazzling interpretation of the Spanish jota folk dance. Dvořák’s formidable Second Piano Quintet is swept along by an enveloping lyricism that distils the very spirit of the composer.

South Korean pianist Jinhyung Park (b. 1996, Seoul) began piano studies at the age of five. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Yonsei University under Ian Yungwook Yoo and later earned his Master’s at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover with Arie Vardi. Park made his recital debut in 2009 via the Kumho Prodigy Concert Series, and has since performed extensively across Europe, North America and Asia, including appearances at the Prague Spring Festival and concerts in Paris and Bratislava. He has collaborated with leading orchestras such as the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE, Orquesta Sinfónica de Málaga, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Slovenská filharmónia, and major Korean orchestras including the KBS Symphony Orchestra and Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Bretón String Quartet has been string quartet in residence for the Jaén Prize International Piano Competition since 2017, appearing for instance with 2018 winner Honggi Kim in Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E flat major (8574232), and in Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet with 2021 winner Valentin Malinin (8574468) recorded as part of this Laureate Series and considered ‘a most rewarding release, well-balanced, and showcasing a major talent’ in Classical Explorer.

Our Laureate series is a valuable and always excitingly inspiring introduction to artists of the future. Established in 1953, the Jaén Prize has become one of the most prestigious awards for its involvement of contemporary Spanish composers, with leading juries and outstanding winners found amongst a significant international participation. Our ongoing collaboration with this award has resulted in a growing and highly collectable series of first-rate solo and chamber music recordings.