A chamber music playground with 7 stars

By Lee Hyo-won

Forget the notion that classical music is difficult ― or even boring.

The sight of chamber musicians engaged in a dynamic interplay of strings sighing and piano keys rolling easily reflects jazz’s roots in the classical tradition.

It was afternoon on Aug. 17 at the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s rehearsal room in Jongno, Seoul. Chung Myung-whun, the artistic director, was not swinging the baton on a podium; he sat before the piano and seemed to be ― and actually was ― fooling around with a bunch of other artists.

``Chamber music is purely for fun. I haven’t performed solo for the past 25 years because (everything I do onstage) is 100 percent my responsibility. In a quintet on the other hand any mistake on my part would account for only 20 percent, and the rest of the 80 can still be good,’’ maestro Chung jokingly told reporters.

But in all seriousness the 57-year-old was having an animated musical conversation through music with his fellow artists ― cellist Young Song (Song Young-hoon), 36, violist Kim Yu-ra, 25, violinist Kim Su-yoen, 22 and double bassist Sung Min-jae, 20. ``When you’re playing with premier musicians, there really is no need to talk,’’ said Song.

These are none other than five of Seven Stars, a chamber series that was revived last year, to the delight of fans, after a sporadic yet explosively popular run between 1997 and 2002. The quintet showcased an impassioned snippet of Schubert’s timeless piano quintet ``Trout’’ in A major, Op. 114. It was some serious music-making but not without a zestful joie-de-vivre.

``Before young Korean students were obsessed about playing solo and practicing all the time. But youths these days seem to be more balanced, and have heightened musical awareness. Chamber music is all about listening to one another and harmonizing,’’ said Chung.

Though unable to attend the rehearsal cellist Yang Sung-won, 46, and pianist Kim Sun-wok, 22, will also appear in Tuesday’s performance at Seoul Arts Center. They will play Chopin’s Introduction and Polonaise Brillante in Ca major, Op. 3.

``I remember when Seven Stars was first launched I played with artists of my age like (pianist) Han Dong-il and (violinist) Kang Dong-suk. But at the time we were having trouble selling tickets so my fellow players and I appeared on a television game program, and did silly games. After the show the tickets were all sold out,’’ Chung recalled.

He has no worries about tickets, since Seven Stars has established itself as one of the most high-in-demand classical performances where fans can see top artists in one sitting. Tickets cost from 40,000 to 100,000 won. Call (02) 518-7343.