By Kwaak Je-yup
Some of the best-looking classical musicians are in town to perform at the third Ditto Festival to be held at various venues around Seoul, starting today.
But the real treat at this year’s festival for music aficionados is the new talent and repertoire.
The festival marks its third year of a nauseating mix of in-your-face commercialism and classical music, arbitrarily promoted as offering a strictly Romantic French repertoire, with little in evidence.
The ensemble that shares the festival’s name and has the central role is actually the only group completely dedicated to 19th-century French composers such as Ravel, Debussy, and Faure.
Popularly known for playing to a sold-out audience full of Korean female fans in their 20s with little knowledge of classical music, Ensemble Ditto brings together four young, promising — and good-looking — male artists, Stephan Pi Jackiw, Richard Yongjae O’Neill, Ji-yong, and Michael Nicolas.
They are to perform next weekend to close out a week and half of chamber music.
Discount the illogical theme and heavy marketing focused on young pretty faces; let the gut resistance recede and look closely; the programs actually are not only varied but occasionally daring — worth a careful listen.
Former Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO) harpist Xavier de Maistre and the Grammy-winning Parker Quartet are the salient first-timers to the festival.
“I would like the audience to discover a wide range of colors with the harp,” said Maistre, at a press conference held in the Hoam Art Hall in central Seoul, Wednesday. “I want to make the people feel that the whole orchestra is on stage when I play.”
Maistre is a pioneer in the harp world, playing the instrument solo on stage, interpreting re-arranged pieces often written for an orchestra. He is the most famous for joining the VPO, consistently regarded by critiques as the world’s best, at the age of 25.
Tonight he is scheduled to play Debussy, Smetana, and works by a group of Spanish composers.
Meanwhile, cellist Kim Kee-hyun of the string quartet promised the performers’ own “special point of view” over a varied repertoire that ranges from Haydn to Shostakovich.
“Chamber music groups tend to be pigeonholed into a certain period,” said Kim, arguing that their recent focus and fame for Hungarian music interpretations have little to do with the group’s tone. “We want to play everything.”
While the harpist has broken new grounds as a soloist, the Parker Quartet members said they preferred playing as an ensemble.
“I value the connection we make with each other and to the audience,” said Karen Kim, one of the group’s violinists. “That’s why we decided to dedicate ourselves to the medium.”
At the festival, the Parker Quartet plays on Saturday with the festival staple Ensemble Ditto and then on Sunday on their own.
O’Neill, returning violist with the Ensemble Ditto and the festival’s musical director this year, said he was “fortunate and humbled to have colleagues” of such caliber join him.
“It is the easiest opportunity to get to know the artists in this intimate setting,” said O’Neill.
Dubbed “the most challenging and daring program tried at the Ditto Festival” by the violist is the Michael Nicolas cello recital with Chinese pianist and child prodigy Helen Huang on Monday.
While the selection of Debussy, Piazzolla, and Rachmaninoff may not rightfully reflect the claims of audacity, the 20th-century great Elliott Carter Cello Sonata should provide something to think about for the audience.
Other notable offerings during the one-and-a-half week festival include former participants who make their return as soloists. L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra violinist Johnny Lee plays Dvorak, Poulence, Franc, and Sarasate on Tuesday, and local piano sensation Lim Dong-hyek plays Chopin, Sarasate, Prokofiev, Brahms, and Ravel on Sunday.
The Ditto Festival runs through July 3. Call 1577-5266 or go to www.dittofest.com for more information.