Gamut of contemporary classical music in store at TIMF

Music of Yun I-sang and works by Japanese contemporary classical music composer Toshio Hosokawa are among the highlights at next year’s Tongyeong International Music Festival, March 29-April 7, taking place at the southern port city of Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province.

The Lucerne Symphony Orchestra raises the curtain on the annual music festival on March 29 with the Asian premiere of Heinz Holliger’s “Ostinato Funebre,” as well as Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C Minor Op. 67. Pianist Behzod Abduraimov is joining the orchestra for the performance of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor Op. 30.

On the second day, the Lucerne-based orchestra will perform composer Yun I-sang’s 1994 composition “Angel in Flames” -- a piece written for soprano, three-part chorus and orchestra -- and “A German Requiem” by Brahms.

Among Yun’s compositions to be performed at the festival are Symphony No. 3 (1985) by Korean Symphony Orchestra on April 4 and “Fluktuationen” (1964) by the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra on April 5.

Various ensembles groups will also introduce works of Yun.

The Berlin Philharmonic’s principal clarinet Wenzel Fuchs will join the Zagreb Soloists for Yun’s “Colloides Sonores” (1961) on March 30 while the Luceren Symphony Soloists, the Arditti Quartet, the Zagreb Soloists and the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble will also perform works by Yun.

The TIMF Black Box will feature two works by Hosokawa, who studied under Yun in Germany in the 1970s: “Voyage V” and “The Maiden from the Sea” will be performed March 29-31.

“Voyage V” is part of a series, in which each work features a different solo instrument accompanied by a chamber orchestra or ensemble. “The Maiden from the Sea” is Hosokawa’s opera in one act based on the traditional Japanese theater Noh written by Futari Shizuka.

Meanwhile, the TIMF 2019 will offer opportunities to hear the music of Wagner.

Pianist Abduraimov will play Liszt’s piano transcription of the closing scene from Wagner opera “Tristan und Isolde” during a solo recital on April 1.

Tongyeong Festival Orchestra, led by conductor Alexander Liebreich, will perform the first act of Wagner Opera “Walkure,” during the finale concert on April 7 featuring soprano Seo Sun-young, tenor Kim Seok-cheol and bass Jun Seung-yun.

Acclaimed cellist Mischa Maisky and cellist Lim hee-young will also perform solo recitals during the festival.

The tickets sales for next year’s Tongyeong International Music Festival opened Saturday.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)