Since winning first prize in the 1985 Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition, Daejin Kim has pursued a busy international career while maintaining a high profile homebase in his native Korea. He acquits himself quite well in John Field’s complete Nocturnes, playing with straightforwardness and taste. His attractive, full-bodied sonority particularly makes itself felt in his ample inflections within undulating left-hand accompaniment figures or their occasional right-hand equivalents (the third Nocturne, for instance). Yet Kim’s phrasing often seems straightjacketed and sectionalized, never really floating over the barlines.
Play any selection alongside Benjamin Frith’s versions for Naxos and you’ll readily respond to the British pianist’s more supple, imaginative, and emotionally and dynamically varied treatments. What’s more, Frith’s two discs are filled out by lovely performances of three Field Sonatas and also benefit from mellower, warmer engineering. There’s no denying Kim’s talent, but the recorded competition speaks for itself.
