Pianist Cho Seong-jin to make his first tour in Korea

Pianist Cho Seong-jin on Thursday announced his first nationwide recital tour, scheduled to kickoff in Busan on Sunday.

At a press conference held at the Seoul Arts Center on Thursday, Cho said that the program for the tour features his favorite pieces, including those by Beethoven, Debussy, as well as Chopin, for whom the Korean pianist is best known.

“I have been wanting to play Beethoven for a long time, so I decided to include Beethoven’s work in the program,” Cho explained. The first half of the program consists of early and late works of Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 8 and Piano Sonata No. 30.

Debussy’s pieces from the second book of “Images,” which Cho recorded last year, will open the second half of the program. Cho said that he decided to include the French composer’s works as he thought they might go well with Chopin.

As expected, Cho, the winner of the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition, caps off the program with Chopin, this time Chopin’s Piano sonata No. 3, which he is performing for the first time.

During the press conference, Cho gave a preview of things to come by performing Debussy’s “Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (And the Moon Sets over the Temple That Was) “ from the second book of “Images,“ as well as Adagio cantabile and Rondo: Allegro, second and third movements, respectively, from Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as “Pathetique.”

Asked by a member of the audience at the showcase about the best moment of the last year, Cho singled out his recent performances with Sir Simon Rattle and Berliner Philharmoniker out of some 100 performances he gave last year.

Cho also discussed his expectations of the performances scheduled for later in the year. In September, Cho will perform with violinist Chung Kyung-wha, for whom he expressed great admiration. In November, Cho will perform with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra led by Sir Antonio Papano at the Seoul Arts Center. In December, he will perform Mozart at a Seoul concert commemorating the 120th anniversary of Deutsche Grammophon, a German recording label.

”I was not able to perform in Korea as often as I wished, due to many other situations. I am very glad that I have more opportunities to play here,“ Cho said.

Pianist Cho Seong-Jin drew worldwide attention when he won the International Chopin Piano Competition, one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world, in 2015.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)