Vienna Phil Concert to Be Broadcast Live
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
The Vienna Philharmonic's Seoul concert on Tuesday, featuring Maestro Zubin Mehta and soprano Sumi Jo, is one of the most anticipated events of the season. Indeed, tickets sold out in 55 minutes when online sales opened Aug. 31, according to concert organizer Hyundai Card.
To service fans, the performance will be broadcast live at the outdoor plaza of Seoul Art Center's Vitamin Station. A large LED screen and 700 seats will be set up. Free admission will begin at 6 p.m., on a first-come, first-served basis.
The outdoor plaza is a favorite spot among Seoulites to enjoy a cup of tea on a breezy autumn evening next to the Singing Fountain's spectacle of light, water and music. Now they will now be able to enjoy the season's hottest concert at the venue. It is the first time the world-renowned orchestra's concert is being broadcast here outdoors in real time.
Meanwhile, the ensemble will invite the Hear-Heart Wind Orchestra, which comprises of teens with developmental disabilities, to its rehearsal Tuesday morning.
This is the first time that the celebrated lyric soprano will perform with the Vienna Philharmonic, and the concert is considered a "dream project" that is finally being realized after 20 years. Sumi Jo, whom the late Maestro Herbert von Karajan praised as having a "voice from the heavens," was scheduled to perform with the Karajan-led Vienna Philharmonic in 1988.
The concert, however, was cancelled due to the conductor's sudden death, and Jo appeared instead opposite Maestro Georg Solti in the Salzburg Festival.
Maestro Zubin Mehta will lead the group in Haydn's Symphony No. 104, and will be joined by the singer for the operatic pieces "Mein Herr Marquis," from Strauss' "Die Fledermaus," and "Ah Forse Lui," from Verdi's "La Traviata." The second part of the concert will feature Brahms' Symphony No. 4.
Tickets are sold out, but call 1577-5266 to see if there are any cancellations.