Part of: Keyboard Virtuosos II
Seong-Jin Cho, Piano
SCHUBERT Fantasy in C Major, D. 760, "Wanderer Fantasy"
DEBUSSY Images, Book I
DEBUSSY Selections from Préludes, Book I
·· Le vent dans la plaine
·· La fille aux cheveux de lin
·· Des pas sur la neige
·· Ce qu’a vu le vent d'ouest
MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition
Encores:
CHOPIN Prelude in A-flat Major, Op. 28, No. 17
LISZT Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F Minor
Although Schubert made no pretense of being in Beethoven’s class as a piano virtuoso, he pushed the envelope of keyboard sound and technique in works like the monumental “Wanderer Fantasy.” Based in part on Schubert’s song “The Wanderer,” the four-movement fantasy resembles his late piano sonatas in its formal integration and expansive scale.
At once radical and traditionalist, Debussy rebelled against the ponderous academic style of establishment composers like Saint-Saëns and d’Indy, urging his compatriots to return to the “pure French tradition” that he admired in the music of Rameau. Debussy’s first book of Images, composed between 1901 and 1905, combines an homage to the Baroque master with a pair of exquisitely crafted tone poems.
Much of 20th-century music would be unthinkable without Debussy’s innovations in harmony, form, tone color, and texture. In the 12 pieces that comprise his first book of preludes, he followed in the footsteps of Chopin, another musical revolutionary. He wrote that Chopin “was a delightful teller of tales of love and war, and he often slips away to that forest of ‘as you like it,’ in which the fairies are the sole mistresses of the mind.”
Mussorgsky’s highly personal and innovative voice was long obscured by well-meaning editors and orchestrators who considered his unconventional harmonies and orchestrations crude. Pictures at an Exhibition and other masterpieces can now be heard in their original state, enabling audiences to see Mussorgsky not just as a Russian nationalist, but as an authentic genius who was decades ahead of his time.
Considered one of the most distinctive artists of his generation, Seong-Jin Cho is rapidly embarking on a world-class career. He was brought to the world’s attention when he won the coveted gold medal at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Mr. Cho signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in January 2016. His first recording with the label, released in November 2016, features Chopin’s four ballades and First Piano Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda. Mr. Cho released a solo Debussy recording in November 2017, and last November he released an album that features Mozart’s sonatas and D-Minor Piano Concerto with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
An active recitalist, Mr. Cho performs in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls. During the 2018–2019 season, he plays the main stages of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Berlin’s Kammermusiksaal, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Los Angeles’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, Zurich’s Tonhalle Maag, and Munich’s Prinzregententheater. He also performs at the Verbier Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, and Rheingau Musik Festival.
Mr. Cho collaborates with renowned conductors who include Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Antonio Pappano, Myung-Whun Chung, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yuri Temirkanov, Krzysztof Urbański, Marek Janowski, Vasily Petrenko, Jakub Hrůša, Leonard Slatkin, and Mikhail Pletnev.
Born in Seoul in 1994, Mr. Cho began learning the piano at age six and gave his first public recital at age 11. He moved to Paris in 2012 to study with Michel Béroff at the Paris Conservatoire, where he graduated in 2015. Mr. Cho is currently based in Berlin.
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