Lynn René Bayley offers an absolute RAVE review for Jonah Kim and Robert Koenig’s new Approaching Autumn recording:

“boy, does Kim tear into the Kodály Solo Sonata! … Kim combines a gorgeous sound and elegance of phrasing, including quite passionate playing in the slower sections, with just the right amount of power in the more dramatic moments. Since he is now an American citizen, I would rate Kim as one of the very finest American cellists along with Zuill Bailey and Matt Haimovitz, and that’s some elite company to be in. …Mark Abel’s Approaching Autumn is a surprisingly dramatic piece… this is the work of an assured composer who knows what he is about. Not a single phrase or note in this fairly compact (14:51) piece is superfluous, repetitive, or just thrown in to impress the listener. Abel set up his themes, develops them in musically sound yet constantly surprising ways, and ends up with a work that I consider a modern American masterpiece. … Nor is pianist Robert Koenig a slouch as his accompanist; he does a fine job of matching Kim’s emotional mood swings… Keep [Kim’s] name in mind for future releases; he has that indefinable ‘it.‘”

—Lynn René Bayley, Art Music Lounge

See the full review in the Art Music Lounge.