Pianist Peter Jablonski to PerformBy Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter Virtuoso pianist Peter Jablonski is back in Korea, and is giving recitals tonight in Seoul and Thursday in Busan. The Swedish musician has been touring the country quite regularly since a fortunate ``mishap'' in 1995. Maestro Chung Myung-whun and the Philharmonia Orchestra were running an hour late due to unusually heavy traffic, and the pianist voluntarily played solo for the audience and live radio broadcast. The incident shot him to stardom here, and he has since been invited back for sellout recitals and concerts. ``The Korean audience is very warm,'' the pianist told The Korea Times, Friday, smiling, though he was clearly jetlagged and fatigued after a performance with KBS Symphony the previous night. ``Koreans are a very responsive crowd and it's always a great pleasure to play here,'' he said. Born in Sweden, Jablonski made his name as a child drummer before devoting himself to the piano. After debuting with an orchestra at age 12, the pianist continued his studies in London where he is currently based. Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy tookSep 30, 2008
Album ReviewsKenny G Love Ballads SonyBMG Critics may deride saxophonist Kenny G.'s smooth jazz music, but his immense success cannot be denied. Kenny G. is considered as the world's best selling instrumental artist of all time, having sold 75 million albums around the world, four million in Korea alone. ``Love Ballads'' is a new compilation of 18 of Kenny G.'s most romantic ballads, plus a DVD featuring nine music videos. Fans will love his old duets with Michael Bolton (``Missing You Now''), Toni Braxton (``How Can an Angel Break My Heart'') and Peabo Bryson (``By the Time This Night is Over''). Also included are his versions of ``The Moon Represents Your Heart'' and ``My Heart Will Go On.'' - Cathy Rose A. Garcia Sep 23, 2008
No Slowing Down for Cuban DivaBy Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter Omara Portuondo, the 77-year-old diva of the legendary Buena Vista Social Club, shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Portuondo is celebrating her 60th anniversary as a musician this year, by releasing a new album ``Gracias'' and going on a world tour which brings her to Seoul Oct. 3. In an e-mail interview with The Korea Times, Portuondo said she is not yet thinking about retirement. ``I guess I will (retire), someday, when the time comes… But it's most certainly not now! I still have yet a lot to sing and a lot to give to my audience,'' she said. Portuondo said she gets the strength to keep singing and performing from her family, friends, Cuba, Cuban food and the audience who comes to see her in concert. ``From nature, too,'' she added. ``I'm very fortunate to have healthy genes, and therefore, I also have to thank my parents.'' Born in Havana, Cuba in 1930, Portuondo started her career as a dancer at the Tropicana Club, and later formed a singing group Cuarteto D'Aida, with her elder sister Haydee and friends Elena Sep 23, 2008
Cellist to Offer Great Journey Through Beethovens SonatasBy Kwaak Jeyup Korea Times Intern One of the most celebrated cellists in the world today, Pieter Wispelwey, is giving a recital at the Seoul Arts Center, southern Seoul, Saturday. Wispelwey will present Beethoven's five cello sonatas and Die Zauberfloete and Judas Maccabeus variations, accompanied by the Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov. In an e-mail interview with the Korea Times, Wispelwey described the program as ``a great journey'' that represents the composer's three creative periods: early, middle and late. The cellist finds Beethoven's energy, humor and emotionality ``paramount'' in these sonatas, which make ``very powerful music ― original, shocking and often unconventional.'' These works have featured regularly in the cellist's packed concert schedule. In the next several months alone, he will perform in Russia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the US and Canada. Wispelwey is famed for his natural and lyric sound, communicative interpretations of a wide- ranging repertoire from J. S. Bach to Elliott Carter and his versatility on both the modern and the Sep 22, 2008
Pianist Lim Turns New Page in His CareerBy Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter Pianist Lim Dong-min is opening a new chapter in his career, with the release of his first solo album and appointment to a teaching position at Keimyung University. The 28-year-old is going from student to associate professor ― skipping the usual six-year route ― and has painted his first self-portrait ``Beethoven'' packaged nicely by Sony BMG. One would expect such an artist would have much to say. Some musicians are vocal about their art, while others allow their work to speak for itself ― and Lim seems to be the latter. ``I don't have any particular thoughts,'' Lim commented about completing his album in an interview with The Korea Times. He brings Beethoven's Sonata No. 31, Op. 110, Sonata No. 14, Op. 27 ``Moonlight'' and No. 23, Op. 56 ``Appassionata.'' ``I felt at ease while recording,'' he said about recording in New York, where he currently resides. Max Wilcox, a Grammy Award-winning producer who has worked on Beethoven recordings with piano greats like Artur Rubinstein and Richard Goode, took charge. Lim received lessons from GoodeSep 17, 2008
J-pop Idols Arashi Returns in NovemberBy Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter Japanese idol group Arashi returns to Seoul for a series of concerts in November as part of its Asian tour. One of the most popular J-pop groups in Korea, Arashi will hold concerts Nov. 1-2 at the Olympic Fencing Stadium, Olympic Park, southern Seoul. The ``Arashi Around Asia" tour kicked off Sept. 5 with the group's first outdoor concert at the National Stadium, Tokyo. Arashi will perform in Taipei, Taiwan Oct. 11-12, and Shanghai, China Nov. 15. Arashi first performed in Korea in September 2006, as Japan's representative to the 2006 Asia Song Festival in Gwangju. The group returned in November of the same year for four sold-out concerts at Olympic Hall. Arashi, one of the idol groups under Johnny's Entertainment, was formed in 1999. Arashi, which means storm in Japanese, is composed of Masaki Aiba, Jun Matsumoto, Kazunari Ninomiya, Satoshi Ohno and Sho Sakurai. This year, Arashi completed their first ``dome" tour, holding concerts at dome stadiums in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo. The ``Arashi Marks 2008 DreSep 16, 2008
Isang Yun Fest Opens in 4 CitiesBy Lee Hyo-won Staff reporter The annual Isang Yun Festival opens in Seoul Wednesday followed by Chuncheon, Jeonju and Tongyeong through Sunday. Four concerts titled ``Emblem'' will take place to commemorate the late Korean-German composer (1917-1995), who embodied the tragedies of modern Korean history. Yun, a prominent avant-garde based in Germany, is famous for being implicated in the 1969 East Berlin spy incident, where the South Korean government arrested many artists and intellectuals suspected of corresponding with communists. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released following protests by musicians like Herbert von Karajan and Igor Stravinsky. Afterward the exiled musician permanently settled in Germany, where he died in 1995 without fulfilling his wish to return home. Last year, his widow I Soo-ja visited Korea for the first time in four decades. The Isang Yun Festival seeks to correct the mistake of overshadowing Yun's music with his tumultuous life story, said the Isang Yun Peace Foundation in a statement. ``We must, rather, pursue Yun's musical ideaSep 16, 2008
Album ReviewsMiles Davis Columbia Jazz Profile SonyBMG Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis was once described by drummer Chico Hamilton as the ``only superstar that jazz has.'' This album, released as part of Columbia's Jazz Profiles, features nine memorable tracks that show why Davis was such a legend. Among the tracks included are ``All Blues'' from ``Kind of Blue,'' one of the best-selling jazz albums of all-time; ``Miles Runs the Voodoo Down'' from ``Bitches Brew''; and the classic ballad ``Stella by Starlight.'' The compilation doesn't really offer anything new for hard-core jazz fans, but new fans will enjoy listening to the best from Davis. - Cathy Rose A. Garcia Sep 16, 2008
Lang Lang, Less Than StellarBy Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter When a major concert hall, fully packed with some 2,500 people, rumbles with an explosive ovation complete with bravos, you may wonder if something is wrong with you for not wanting to do the same. The majority of the audience, in this reporter's humble opinion, heard what they wanted to hear ― that their $200 ticket was well worth it. Three stars ― maestro conductor Chung Myung-whun; pianist Lang Lang, who became even more famous when he graced the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics; and La Filarmonica della Scala (La Scala Philharmonic) of the revered Italian opera house. Hearing these giants together in concert was naturally expected to be stellar. Yet, Tuesday and Wednesday's performances in Seongnam and Seoul, respectively, were disappointing to say the least. Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2, one of the most frequently played works in Seoul, was disastrous. The structured playing and tempered whimsicality Lang demonstrated in his live recording with the Valery Gergiev-led Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater (Deutsche Grammophon) weSep 12, 2008
Rising Maestra Sung ReturnsBy Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter A generation after maestri Marin Alsop and Simone Young took the baton to the glass ceiling there is still no consensus on how to properly address a female master conductor. While ``maestra'' may sound like a logical female form of maestro, it really denotes schoolteacher in Italian. This issue may become more relevant in the years to come, with promising young assistant conductors like the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Sung Shi-yeon and the New York Philharmonic's Xian Zhang. This points to a more general question: Does gender still matter? ``I do not think of my gender when I conduct, because it is my idea that colors my music,'' Sung told The Korea Times in a telephone interview. The statement seemed more like pensive introspection than an aggressive objection. The 33-year-old, tall, charismatic and almost fiercely energetic onstage, had a delicate, feminine voice bouncing with laughter throughout the conversation. After winning first prize at the 2006 International Conductors' Competition for Sir Georg Solti, she was invited by James LevinSep 9, 2008