Award-winning pianist's first album
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"Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 Ballades"
Pianist Cho Seong-jin's first studio album "Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 Ballades" was released Nov. 25 by Deutsche Grammophon.
The album consists of eight tracks, with a bonus track on the deluxe album.
The 83-minute special deluxe album is released only in Korea with an additional track "Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor Op. Post" included as a bonus for Korean fans. The album features "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No.1" which is the piece Cho won the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition with last year. Cho recorded the album with conductor Gianandrea Noseda and the London Symphony Orchestra.
His studio album includes ballades that weren't on his previous two albums which were recordings of his live performance at the competition. For Cho, the four ballades were a dream repertoire that he had been bracing to record one day since he heard it on Krystian Zimerman's CD when he was 11.
His ballades are beautiful and comforting as he felt comfortable playing it. The studio recording features his performance on the last day of a three-day recording session. Cho said in a previous interview that he felt more comfortable playing them as a round-up on the final day because of the relief that it was over, which is why he thinks that recording was selected for the album.
The album features a special interview with Cho Seong-jin by a music columnist.
The album topped charts on internet shopping malls such as Yes24 and Interpark, beating out K-pop albums, a rare feat in the classical genre.