Why did this Harvard-educated pianist choose Chopin, Faure for his debut recording?

What does choosing the repertoire for an album mean to a musician? Should an artist consider listeners’ diverse tastes? Should they introduce an unfamiliar world and spark curiosity? Or should they guide listeners on an odyssey across a vast musical landscape, united by a coherent artistic vision?

These were questions pianist Kim Sae-hyun, 19, posed to himself while planning his debut album. At a press conference held Monday at Credia Classic Club in Jongno District, Seoul, Kim described them as “questions I will have to live with for the rest of my life,” adding that his ultimate goal as a musician is “to contemplate all three and eventually transcend them.” For now, however, the clearest answer for him is simply to follow his heart.

The composers his heart led him to were Chopin and Fauré. Kim, who won the Long-Thibaud International Competition in Paris last year at the age of 17 by unanimous decision, sweeping the Audience Prize, Critics’ Prize and Paris Special Prize, is set to release his first album just over a year later.

Warner Classics’ debut album, “Chopin · Fauré,” which will be released worldwide on Sept. 4, with physical copies already available in Korea, is centered on Chopin’s 12 Études, Op. 25. The repertoire was a natural choice for Kim, who has studied Chopin extensively under Dang Thai Son and Paik Hae-sun, while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English literature at Harvard University alongside a master’s degree at the New England Conservatory.

The album also includes Fauré’s “Après un rêve” and Barcarolle No. 1, which Kim came to appreciate through the Long-Thibaud Competition, as well as “April in Paris,” an arrangement of the chanson by Charles Trenet. The choice of “April in Paris” came with an anecdote involving his teacher, Dang Thai Son, the first Asian to win the Chopin International Competition in Warsaw in 1980.

“My teacher was concerned, saying that the piece required you to absorb everything about French life and culture. But I loved it so much that I brought it to him anyway.” After hearing Kim play it, Dang reportedly said it was “strange” and that Kim “could perform it anywhere.”

Over the year since his Long-Thibaud victory, Kim has performed on stages including the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, experiences that have changed his approach to music. Unlike competitions, where performers must show everything they have within a limited amount of time, he has learned to feel freer with tempo and to allow himself more space.

“At some point, there comes a time when you need to empty rather than fill,” Kim said. “I think I am at that point now.”

He also believes his experience studying English literature at Harvard will eventually find its way into his music. “Literature and music have storytelling in common, which is why I study them together,” he said. “I don’t expect literature to show up directly in my playing right away. I think it will emerge slowly after being digested and absorbed over the next 10 or 20 years.”

While studying the études, Kim even wrote a haiku for each one. “I’m trying to break free from the framework and play more freely, so I don’t read the haiku I wrote anymore,” he said.

This approach is also connected to a quote by Albert Einstein that he happened to encounter during a lesson and that left a deep impression on him: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

“I have always tried to understand and analyze everything,” Kim said. “But I think the ultimate destination for an artist is, in many cases, freedom.” He added that he hopes listeners who discover his album “will also be able to imagine and enjoy the music freely.”

To mark the release of his debut album, Kim will give a recital at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul on Sept. 6. The program will feature all 12 of Chopin’s Études, Op. 25, as well as the Barcarolle, Op. 60 and Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 18.

Kim intends to continue exploring the questions he raised through his debut album. His answer to what kind of pianist he wants to become is clear.

“I want to study and grow with a sense of serving the music,” he said. “I want to perform in a way that allows the composer to be seen, rather than the performer."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.