Pianist HJ Lim is a chart-topper, in more ways than one: She is the youngest performer to record the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas (she performed them in Paris in 2010 over eight consecutive days) and the only classical pianist to debut at No. 1 in 2012 on Billboard’s Classical Overall Chart in the U.S. and Canada. She’ll make her Seattle debut next week on the Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, by Mendelssohn, a piano virtuoso himself. German maestro Jun Märkl returns for guest-conducting duties, and he’ll also lead the orchestra in Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” Suite and Mozart’s Symphony No. 39. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m. Jan. 12, Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $19-$112 (206-215-4747 or www.seattlesymphony.org). Note: The Lim performances bookend the orchestra’s “Symphony Untuxed” series, which picks up again at 7 p.m. Jan. 11, with Märkl conducting the Stravinsky and Mozart works. See website for more info on the series, which features earlier start times, preconcert happy hours and a shorter, no-intermission format.

Seattle Times staff