Star Soloists Coming to Town

The local classical music scene will catch spring fever next month. In this high tide of concerts, however, there are several not to be missed featuring honored soloists such as pianists Martha Argerich and Emanuel Ax, and their protégé, Lim Dong-hyek, and cellist Jian Wang.

Emanuel Ax (Courtesy of Sejong Center)

While many fans were disappointed by the cancellation of tours by foreign troupes such as the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Cincinnati, the Staatskapelle Dresden’s Strauss-themed Seoul concerts remain intact.

On May 9 and 10 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, in downtown Seoul, Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax will join the 461-year-old orchestra for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op.37, and Strauss’ ``Burleske’’ in D Minor for Piano and Orchestra.

Founded in 1548, the German troupe is the oldest in the world and has premiered works by great masters such as Vivaldi, Schumann, Wagner and Liszt, among others. Feted conductor Fabio Luisi will lead the group. Tickets cost from 50,000 to 250,000 won. Call (02) 399-1114~6.

Jian Wang
(Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon)

Cellist Jian Wang is a leading artist, arising from post-Cultural Revolution China a generation before young stars like Yundi Li and Lang Lang.

Wang rose to worldwide fame at the age of 10 when he appeared in violinist Isaac Stern’s documentary ``From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China,’’ and has since appeared on the world stage alongside artists of renown such as Seiji Ozawa.

The cellist will appear May 14 at Seoul Arts Center for the second of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s ``Virtuoso’’ series. The Deutsche Grammophon-recording artist will play Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104. Conductor Scott Yoo, the music director of the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, Calif., will lead Korea’s leading ensemble for Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 13, ``Winter Daydreams.’’ Tickets cost from 10,000 to 50,000 won. Call (02) 580-1300.

Martha Argerich
(Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon)

Martha Argerich, considered a living legend of classical music, will host part of her Beppu, Japan, music festival here May 24 at Seoul Arts Center.

Joining the music director are pianist Lim Dong-hyek, a protégé of Argerich, now studying under Emanuel Ax in New York, and conductor Sung Shi-yeon, the assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Both were Korea Times 2008 Next Generation Artists. Another up-and-coming artist to take the stage is trumpeter Sergei Nakariakov.

Ensemble TIMF, of the Tongyeong International Music Festival, will accompany the artists. Lim will play Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, while Argerich and Nakariakov will perform Schumann’s ``Fantasiestucke,’’ Op. 73, and Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings in C Minor, Op. 35, together. Tickets cost from 50,000 to 200,000 won. Call 1577-5266.

Evgeny Kissin Dazzles Korean Fans

Evgeny Kissin said that performance is ``the gift to composers and all of humanity,’’ and this pianist is the gift that keeps on giving. In his Seoul recital, Thursday, the Russian sensation _ or revolution rather, to imply the historic dimension of his presence _ gave 10 encores and serviced fans with an autograph session that continued past midnight.


(Photos courtesy of Credia)

The pianist’s concert was an event people did not want to miss. The concert hall of Seoul Arts Center was fully packed well before the show began, with less than a handful of latecomers slipping in after his delightful rendition of select pieces from Prokofiev’s ``Romeo and Juliet.’’
Each time the tall figure emerged onstage the audience exploded into applause but would hush instantaneously when he sat down.

No one dared to cough between the movements of Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 8, and it was as if the members of the audience were turned into stone under the spell of Kissin’s magical pianism (OK this sounds so corny, but people, including myself, were so incredibly STILL). An occasional shifting in the seat would softly echo through the hall, and the musician’s deliberate but effortless notes hung suspended in the air, even after he took his fingers off the keys.

This genius, and one does not use this word lightly, has a way of holding you at the edge of the seat _ in the silence between the notes he holds your breath before poetry manifests itself in his rollicking, glistening phrasings. During concerts, this reporter is usually busy scribbling down notes, but throughout Kissin’s performances, she had to remember to breathe, quite literally. The audience had to try very hard not to clap after each etude as he proceeded immediately to the next one.

When the official program came to an end, the entire hall jumped into a standing ovation, and, a never before seen sight took place. People left their seats and crowded toward the stage, and organizers did not even attempt to intervene as a majority of the 2,500 people took out their cameras and cell phones to fill the hall with a tide of flashes. It must be noted here that the Korean audience is usually quite tame, and don’t try to breach regulations about taking photographs.

The cool hall became heated, quite literally, as fans cheered on for one encore after another. Kissin, looking a bit overwhelmed by the Korean audience _ whom he said is ``the most passionate of audiences, even more so than Italians’’ _ offered more Prokofiev and Chopin, and finally, a dazzling rendition of Mozart’s ``Turkish March.’’ He ended the 1 hour 20 minute encore by bowing gracefully with one hand on his heart _ a sign that the gift for the evening is over. Well, almost over.

A long serpentine line formed in the lobby for the autograph session, which lasted close to an hour until 12:30 a.m. A handful of people had to be turned away at the end, but most were seen jumping up and down in glee, having in possession a token of what would undoubtedly be the most talked-about classical event of the year.

Kissin performs less than 45 times a year, but he gives each session 300 percent, with the added bonus of, on average, 10 encores and a signing session. Chang Il-bum, music critic and radio DJ, has watched Kissin onstage over the years since the 37-year-old’s early days in Moscow. ``When I first saw him as a young man (in his 20s) in Moscow, I thought I’d seen it all, but each time I see him he sets new horizons. It’s difficult to imagine how he’d be like as a white-haired old man,’’ he told The Korea Times.

For the meantime one can only wait for the pianist’s return, and dream of what more he has to offer.

Young Star Pianists to Go On Stage

Young, popular pianists will grace Seoul Arts Center this week ― Kim Sun-wook, 20, who is seen as a future leader of the Korean classical music world, will appear Friday with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra; Lim Dong-hyek, the 24-year-old with the following of a rock star, will perform Sunday with the Northern Sinfonia; and Evgeny Kissin, the 37-year-old Russian sensation, will perform a long-awaited recital for local fans on April 2.

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Pianist Lim Dong-min Turns New Page in Career

Mr. Lim is very talented, of course.... but very taciturn... it makes it rather difficult to interview him, but a musician's music speaks louder than a thousand words trying to describe it.

Pianist Lim Dong-min is opening a new chapter in his career, with the release of his first solo album and appointment to a teaching position at Keimyung University. The 28-year-old is going from student to associate professor _ skipping the usual six-year route _ and has painted his first self-portrait ``Beethoven’’ packaged nicely by Sony BMG.

One would expect such an artist would have much to say. Some musicians are vocal about their art, while others allow their work to speak for itself _ and Lim seems to be the latter.

``I don’t have any particular thoughts,’’ Lim commented about completing his album in an interview with The Korea Times. He brings Beethoven’s Sonata No. 31, Op. 110, Sonata No. 14, Op. 27 ``Moonlight’’ and No. 23, Op. 56 ``Appassionata.’’

``I felt at ease while recording,’’ he said about recording in New York, where he currently resides. Max Wilcox, a Grammy Award-winning producer who has worked on Beethoven recording with piano greats like Artur Rubinstein and Richard Goode, took charge. Lim received lessons from Goode himself while studying at Mannes Music School in New York. ``(Wilcox) was quite resolute about what he wanted, but I agreed that it was best to be faithful to the composer’s intentions,’’ he said.

Lim’s rendition of No. 31 _ beautiful, rollicking phrasings flowing freely within an austere traditional cadre _ seems to be the voice for the taciturn pianist.

The pianist’s choice of Beethoven marks a turn away from his reputation as a Chopin specialist. ``I wanted to try something new and not be trapped in the Chopin repertoire,’’ he said. He selected every pianist’s childhood favorites ``Moonlight’’ and its usual counterpart ``Appassionata.’’ He added No. 31 because he wanted to play one of Beethoven’s later works that foreshadow the Romantic period. Moreover, he simply plays what he likes. His will be recording a couple more CDs with Sony, perhaps Schubert or Beethoven, but he has no intention to do a full cycle of Beethoven’s sonatas. ``We’ll have to see,’’ he said. ``But I would like to give Bach a try since I have never played his pieces,’’ he added after a slight pause.

This isn’t Lim’s first CD. He has recordings of his 15th International Chopin Competition-winning performances (Victor, 2006). Sharing the third prize at the prestigious Warsaw event with his younger brother Dong-hyek elevated them both to stardom, and accepting the position at Keimyung University, which houses the Chopin Academy of Music & Performing Arts, was a natural choice. ``I don’t think of it as a big burden or anything. I simply want to deliver what I learned,’’ he said.

Having started the piano at a relatively late age of nine, Lim’s rapid development took him abroad to Russia’s Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Germany’s Hanover Hochscule fur Music. ``I started playing the piano because everyone did at the time,’’ he said, and he didn’t dislike it. ``Music,’’ he said, ``is just one method of expressing yourself.’’

Lim in a way, almost demystifies the magical aura that often shrouds musicians and the creative process of music making. He doesn’t listen to classical music 24 hours a day _ in fact he doesn’t even have a stereo at his New York apartment. Having grown up as a fan of Michael Jackson, he spends his free time tuning into Korean drama soundtracks.

The media spotlight and attention of thousands of fans don’t bother him either. ``I don’t really pay attention to fans. I don’t mind the press, either,’’ he said, not with haughty or bemused indifference but unfaltering honesty _ perhaps a reflection of the instrumental clarity and clean, white sound of his ``Moonlight’’ sonata.

Lim celebrates the release of his first solo album with a recital at Seoul Arts Center, Sept. 28. He will play Sonatas No. 31 and 23 as well as Listz’s Sonata in B Minor, S. 178. Tickets cost from 30,000 won to 70,000 won. Call (02) 599-5743.

Ensemble Ditto Storms Across Korea

The ultimate boy band of the classical music world.

Members of the ensemble Ditto from left: pianist Lim Dong-hyek, 24; violinists Stefan Jackiw, 23, and Johnny Lee, 29; cellist Patrick Jee, 30; double bassist DaXun Zhang, 28; and violist Richard Yongjae O'Neill, 29. This photo is also part of their modeling campaign for Theory Korea. / Courtesy of Credia

Last year, a group of young men took the local music scene by storm. At chamber group Ditto’s Seoul concerts, die hard fans darted for the door before the last song came to an end so they could line up for autographs. They’re like the Shinhwa of the classical music scene.

Ditto is back for their second season, which is expected to be ``bigger and better,’’ said violinist Johnny Lee, 29, at the opening night performance Wednesday in Seoul’s hip Hongdae area.

The chamber group has certainly gotten bigger, with pianist Lim Dong-hyek, 24, violinist Stefan Jackiw, 23, and double bassist Daxun Zhang, 28, joining Lee, violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill, 29, and cellist Patrick Jee, 30.

Mozart’s Duo for Violin & Viola K.423 and Beethoven’s ``Razumovsky’’ String Quartet No. 9 filled the small hall where indie rock bands usually perform. Dressed comfortably in jeans, the young musicians conversed afterward with their mostly female fans. When asked if they had girlfriends, Jackiw exposed his single status and the crowd shrieked with excitement.

Jackiw, who, apart from being an up and coming artist in the United States, is noted here for being the grandson of celebrated writer Pi Chun-duk. ``I’ve read both his essays and his poems and spent a lot of time with him in the summer. He was a fan of classical music and we talked a lot about literature and paintings… Spending time with him and talking about music influenced my music,’’ he said, adding that he learned about great musicians like Herbert von Karajan and Anne-Sophie Mutter through him.

Outside the hall, large posters and stationary featuring the youthful members were on sale _ rather than CDs. While there is sharp criticism about the overly commercial ``star’’ marketing tactics, the group’s public appeal is incontestable. Au contraire to stereotypes that chamber music is boring, the group secured a tour across nine cities, beginning with Daejeon on Sunday all the way down to Busan (June 20), then back in Seoul (June 28) and finally Inchoen (July 2).

Ditto is recognized for reaching out to a wider audience, and the tour includes stopovers at elementary schools in Busan and Daegu. Many non-classical music fans learned to appreciate the genre because of these Korean and Asian-American musicians, indicated by the group’s online fan community. Fans flocked to Hoam Art Center for Lee and Jee’s recitals Thursday and Friday, and concertgoers kept glancing back during breaks as other Ditto members were seated at the rear.

Chamber music seems to invigorate the members’ lives as well. ``I usually get really nervous about going onstage, but chamber music relieves me of that kind of stress. In addition to making great music, I’m just excited about working and hanging out with guys my age,’’ said Lim, who is receiving positive feedback on his newly released album (Bach’s ``Goldberg Variations,’’ EMI). ``Plus, I don’t have that many guy friends so this is very nice,’’ he laughed. The pianist cooked doenjang jjigae (bean curd stew) for the members in his New York apartment.

Lee, the only ethnic Korean member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, said although June is vacation for him, playing with Ditto ``doesn’t feel like working.’’ Jee also expressed his excitement about collaborating with good friends.

The highlight of the group’s program this year is Schubert’s Piano Quintet ``The Trout.’’ The Austrian composer wrote it when he was 22, and classical music legends like pianist Daniel Barenboim, violinist Itzhak Perlman, violist Pinchas Zukerman, cellist Jacqueline du Pre and double bassist Zubin Mehta jammed onstage together for the piece in their youth.

O’Neill said he thought long and hard about deciding on a piece that would be satisfying for a diverse audience, including both fans and people who don’t know much about classical music.

The Seoul performances will take place at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., June 28, at the Seoul Arts Center near Nambu Bus Terminal station on subway line 3. Call 1577-5266.

``Ditto'' is also the title of the book violist O'Neill wrote.

Pianist Lim Dong-hyek Emerges From Slump With Bach

Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chul

This is the second in a series of interviews with the next generation of classical musicians. ― ED

Lim Dong-hyek seems to have it all ― international competition trophies and two award-winning records with EMI under his belt before turning 20. To top it off, the 23-year-old has the cult following of a rock star in Korea.

His online fan club membership exceeds 400,000 people and his sold-out recitals start emptying out before curtains close as fans make an early exit to line up outside for his autograph. It's an unprecedented popularity for a classical musician here.

But in a recent Korea Times interview in Seoul, he rejected the notion of stars in classical music as well as nicknames like ``prodigy'' the public gave him. ``I mean, come on, Mozart was a true prodigy,'' he said.His denial, however, was not marked by humility but rather an unrestrained outspokenness, which kept his manager uneasy throughout the interview.

Lim seemed to break just about every stereotype of a classical musician. He doesn't live and breathe music 24 hours a day. In fact, he said he prefers not to talk about music in private situations and finds computer games more stimulating than the piano.

``Games are so strongly addictive, but why isn't the piano like that?'' he said jokingly. But he thought for a moment and said, ``But then again, the piano is like a soft addiction,'' he said.And staying away from the stage, where one can truly indulge in the ``soft addiction,'' was surely painful. The past two years for Lim was a long period of ennui and confusion as an artistic slump hit. But it was while playing a computer game that he heard a CD ― Glen Gould's rendition of Bach's Goldberg Variations ― and snapped out of it.

Now he's back in Korea for a recital tour, currently making his way across 12 cities through March 7.

Back With Bach

Going back a bit, how did it all happen? Lim is a prime example of success stories that encourage aspiring classical musicians to flock overseas to master the art of classical music. He himself endorses foreign training. ``Classical music is after all a Western art. I think learning about the culture helps better understand it,'' he said.

Lim started the piano at a relatively late age of seven, but by 10 had moved to Moscow, where he gave recitals attended by Russian president Boris Yeltsin. He went on to study in Hanover and is now at the Juilliard School in New York with Emmanuel Ax.

But it was far from easy.

In addition to the constant artistic battle with the self, he had to fight another war against prejudice. ``Racial discrimination is a lot more prevalent in the classical music world than you think. I have to work twice as hard to prove myself,'' he said. In 2005 he shared third place with his older brother Dong-min at the International Chopin event, where there was no second prizewinner. It was a phenomenal achievement, but the experience proved to be rather anticlimactic for Lim.

``I expect the worst for each competition, but the next is always even worse,'' said Lim, who will probably be forever known as the pianist who declined third prize at the 2003 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.He felt tired and decided to stay out of the competition pool. Entering one competition after another had kept him focused, and lacking an immediate goal, he ``lounged around doing nothing.''

``I didn't really know which direction to take,'' he said. ``But (the slump) would have come sooner or later, and I'm glad I got through it now. It's better now than later.

``Besides, what else can I do?'' he said. ``Playing the piano is the only thing I know how to do. It would be a waste to just throw away all the effort I've put into it,'' he said casually, but then said, ``The slump actually made me realize how much I can't live without music.'' Hearing Bach's Goldberg Variations by chance would inspire him to start anew. When you've hit rock bottom, there's nowhere else to go but up.

Last June, he made a comeback to the competition circle, finishing fourth at the Tchaikovsky event. He took up his new repertoire with vigor. Known as an interpreter of Chopin, Lim interpreter calls it ``stealing a glance of Bach.'' ``It's part of a never-ending process of learning as a musician. I thought if I were to do it, I might as well do a big piece. The Goldberg Variations is such a well-known piece, so it's a great challenge.``I learned the Chopin pieces with my heart, but had to use more of my head for Bach.

``It was like water and oil, they didn't mix together well,'' he said. Has Bach reached his heart yet? ``I'm not sure, I'll have to see with the first performance. Playing the piece onstage before an audience reveals its true charms,'' he said.

Lim will be giving his sixth performance tonight (Wednesday). He is still nervous each time he goes onstage, but each recital brings him closer to Bach, according to his manager.``It sounds a bit abstract, but it's all about communicating beauty. If I can touch or move the audience in any way, my mission is complete,'' he said. He will also be recording an album in April after the tour. ``But I'm not going to stay with Bach for too long. It's sort of ironic, but it's part of exploring something else so I can do what I do (Romantic works) better,'' he said.

And so his transformation as artist and as an individual continues. ``I want to mature as a human being,'' he said. As a musician, he refused to be defined in one color.``It's like a prism,'' he said about his musical world. ``The hue depends on how you look at it, and constantly changes depending on when and where it is.''

But some things don't seem to change. He's been living abroad for 14 years now, but remains Korean to the core. He only eats Korean food, including breakfast, and can't live without kimchi jjigae (pot stew) and gobchang gui (grilled small intestine of cattle). Lim said now that he's stepped out of the slump, he wants to gain weight and be healthier. Perhaps some Korean food in Korea would do the trick.

Lim is presenting a full program that includes the Goldberg Variations as well as Chaconne, BWV 1004 and the chorale preludes by Bach/Busoni. He will perform tonight (Feb. 20) in Ulsan; Friday at Goyang; Saturday at Nowon; Feb. 26 in Seoul; Feb. 28 in Seongnam; Feb. 29 in Suwon; March 3 in Seosan; and March 7 in Gwacheon.

The Seoul performance will take place at 8 p.m. at the concert hall of the Seoul Arts Center. Tickets cost 30,000-80,000 won. Call 1577-5266 for tickets and (02) 318-4303 for inquiries.