Chung Myung-whun to record first solo piano album

Pianist-turned-conductor Chung Myung-whun will record his first solo piano album, local media reported Wednesday.

The 60-year-old musician has built up a career as a maestro by leading orchestras around the world, including the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio France Philharmonic and the Opra Bastille Orchestra.

Chung is now arranging the details for a solo piano album with German label, ECM, according to industry insiders. His second son, Jeong-seon, the first Korean producer at ECM, is expected to participate in the recording.

This will be the first piano solo recording for Chung, despite the fact that he shot to international fame for winning second place at the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Competition. Since then, he has recorded several albums with his two sisters ― cellist Chung Myung-wha and violinist Chung Kyung-wha ― as part of the Chung Trio. He also released a Tchaikovsky concerto and recorded for other musician’s albums.

“It is true that Chung has been concentrating on conducting, but the new album with ECM, an internationally acclaimed recording label for providing the best sound in classical and jazz music, will once again remind music lovers that Chung was and is a great pianist,” a staff member at C&L, Korean distributor of ECM, was quoted as saying to local news media.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)