Pianist-maestro keeps heart for chamber music

Even after the emergence of hundreds of new genres of music over the centuries, classical chamber music is still one of a kind.

A small group of musicians with different musical instruments sit close to each other and perform in the intimate atmosphere of a relatively small venue. The audience can even hear the players’ breathing, the very detailed resonance of the strings and the sound of the piano pedals moving up and down.

“I believe that chamber music was written as if a composer were confessing or sharing secret messages with his very close friends, chatting and creating some beautiful harmony. It is more of self-reflection ― self-counseling, advising or whatever it is that shows his inner-self. The keyword is ‘conversation,’ among musicians themselves and with the audience,” said Kim Dae-jin, music director of the Kumho Art Hall Chamber Music Society.

Kim will be leading Kumho Art Hall Music Society as music director at Kumho Art Hall on Thursday 8 p.m. Under the theme of “Spanish Flavor,” the group will perform Tarrega’s “Gran Jota for Solo Guitar”; Granados’ “Valses Poeticos for Piano” and Piano Quintet in G Minor; de Falla’s Suit Populaire Espagole for Violin and Piano; and Turina’s Piano Trio No. 2 in B Minor. Kim will be playing the piano in three pieces.

The program is filled with warmth and Latin passion that make Spanish music distinctive. “Some of the pieces were quite unfamiliar to me, too,” Kim confessed.

“But we had so much fun preparing. The beauty of chamber music is that it is so democratic. Each player gets to talk about his or her idea of music and meld them together to harmonize. We had a lot of fun and great respect for each other while getting to know about the pieces and creating music,” Kim said. “Not even we are sure how the our own music will turn out at the concert so it is extremely exciting.”

Among the program, the ending part of the Piano Trio No. 2 in B Minor was a big surprise for the pianist-conductor ― it resembles the rhythm of the Korean traditional percussion rhythm “gutgeori.”

“How would Turina have known gutgeori rhythm? Though Korea and Spain are so far apart and share nothing in common, this little phrase tells us that music is a universal language and that musical beauty can be appreciated by all people,” Kim said.

Kim, who is also the music director and conductor of the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, has been dedicated to raising public awareness of classical music. Graduated from Julliard, he returned to Korea after being offered a job at the then-newly established Korean National University of Arts in 1994 and has been teaching talented fledgling pianists.

Kim, once called a piano prodigy himself, asked people to look into the music rather than the players.

“I see many people splurge to go to expensive concerts by internationally acclaimed orchestras and players. But there I can sense that the audience is waiting to criticize the players and musicians rather than indulging themselves in music. They wait to see whether the players pulled off things right, whether they are worth the money,” Kim said. “I don’t think people can appreciate music itself in that situation. It isn’t worth their money and will not help the classical music industry, either.”

Kim dreams that all generations will be able to cherish classical music that has survived hundreds of years.

“I sense that in Korea, when you reach a certain age you stop going to concerts and stop listening to music. But the more mature you get, the deeper you can understand music,” he said.

“I believe chamber music is a good way to feel closer to music. It’s not about the musicians, it’s not about the music hall. It’s purely about music,” he said.

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