2016 brings world-class musicians to Korea

Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Seoul Arts Center on Jan. 28-29. / Courtesy of Vincero

By Kwon Ji-youn

This year, world-class orchestras are set to return to Seoul with compelling programs; ensembles are looking to visit the capital for the first time; ballet troupes will mark 400 years since Shakespeare’s death; and young pianists are seeking to keep the home fires burning with recitals and records for their Korean fans.

Here is 2016’s classical line-up:

From around the world

The 520-year-old Vienna Boys’ Choir will hail the New Year with concerts at the Seoul Arts Center (SAC) on Jan. 24. The choir, the world’s best-known boys’ choir and one of three imperial Austrian musical groups along with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera, bring a program of sacred and folk music unique to the ensemble, and during its stay in Korea, it will host a special round of auditions to recruit local talent.

The Vienna Boys’ Choir / Courtesy of Credia

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) will also visit later this month. The CSO, named to Gramophone’s list of the world’s top five orchestras, will celebrate its 125th anniversary with a concert on Jan. 28-29. Maestro Riccardo Muti, who was unable to conduct the CSO during its visit to Korea in 2013, will helm the performance, to feature Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Mahler’s First Symphony. On the second day, the CSO will perform Prokofiev’s First Symphony, Hindemith’s Concert Music for Brass and Strings and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony.

The Thomanerchor’s fourth performance in Seoul will take place at the Seoul Arts Center on March 16, bringing with it St. Matthew Passion, a sacred oratorio written by Bach in 1727 with libretto by Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrici). The Thomanerchor, also known as the St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig, is a choir that Bach himself conducted for 26 years.

The Lucerne Symphony, the orchestra-in-residence of the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre (KKL Luzern) in central Switzerland, will pay a visit in June with a program focused on Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony, its recording of which was included in the New York Times’ selection of last year’s best albums. It will be accompanied by pianist Khatia Buniatishvili.

Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra will also perform the bohemian Eighth Symphony in Seoul on Oct. 10-11. The orchestra, founded in 1983, has in just three decades joined the ranks of world-class European orchestras.

The Orchestre de Paris (OdP) will visit in November to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Korea-France diplomatic ties. With new music director Daniel Harding, the OdP and violinist Joshua Bell will perform Berlioz’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Debussy’s “Pelleas et Melisande,” among others.

Maestro Mariss Jansons will return to Korea in December with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1949, for a third time. Their repertoire will range from Haydn to Strauss.

Pianist Cho Seong-jin performs during the final competition of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition at the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall in Warsaw, Poland, on Oct. 18, 2015. / Yonhap

Star pianists’ recitals

Young pianists are looking to strike while the iron is hot, lining up recitals for their Korean fans.

Lim Dong-hyek will begin with a recital on Jan. 23 at the concert hall of the SAC. Lim, who finished in third place at the Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in 2003, third in the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2005 and fourth in the International Tchaikovsky Competition that had no winner, will perform tracks from his “Chopin Preludes” album, released last year.

Cho Seong-jin, winner of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition, will hold a gala concert on Feb. 2 at the SAC. Cho, who became the first Korean to win the prestigious Chopin competition, will be joined by Charles Richard-Hamelin of Canada, Kate Liu of the U.S., and other prize winners. Tickets for the concert sold out in record time. Cho will also perform with the SPO in July.

Pianist Kim Sun-wook has also scheduled for a recital on July 20 at the SAC. Kim, known for his go-ahead attitude towards music, will present works by Mozart and Schubert, a venture from his generally Beethoven-focused repertoire.

Other star musicians visiting Korea this year include composer Philip Glass, violinist Maxim Vengerov, soprano Angela Gheorghiu, cellist Julia Fischer, pianist Murray Pariah and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Welcome, newcomers

Some ensembles and soloists will be visiting Korea for the first time this year.

The Spanish National Orchestra will visit Korea for the first time on July 17. Led by Antonio Mendez, the orchestra will bring a repertoire that comprises folk, dance and Spanish traditional music. Korean pianist Paik Kun-woo, who is currently based in France, will join them for Ravel’s Piano Concerto, the very piece that earned him international recognition.

The Bamberg Symphony, under Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt’s baton, will also perform in Seoul for the first time in late October.

The orchestra and Blomstedt, who was named honorary conductor of the orchestra in 2006, will perform a program of symphonies by Beethoven, Schubert and Bruckner.

The adventurous and progressive San Francisco Symphony (SFS) will take to the SAC stage for the first time on Nov. 10. The SFS and American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who has helmed the orchestra since 1995, will be joined by pianist Lim for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2. They will also perform Mahler’s First Symphony. The SFS and Thomas have won 15 Grammy Awards, including seven for its Mahler recording cycle of all of the composer’s symphonies and his works for voice, orchestra and chorus.

Star soprano Anna Yuryevna Netrebko will perform at the SAC on March 12. Netrebko, known for her striking interpretations of Russian operatic roles, will be joined by tenor Yusif Eyvazov along with the Korean Symphony Orchestra.

The Stradivari Quartett, comprised of four musicians who own Stradivaris instruments, claim to bring out of the all the height and depth of human emotion that music can express. They will perform at the SAC on April 27. Joined by pianist Huh Seung-yeun, the quartet will perform Schumann’s Piano Quintet and Mozart’s String Quartet No. 21.

Ballet

The country’s top two ballet troupes have announced their line-ups for 2016.

Both companies will open with classic ballets in March, and both will mark 400 years since Shakespeare’s death with productions based on the English playwright’s work.

The Korea National Ballet’s (KNB) first production will be “La Bayadere,” by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The KNB premiered “La Bayadere” in 2013 and has since sold 90 percent of tickets over the two years it has been performed.

The Universal Ballet Company’s (UBC) season opener will be “Swan Lake,” composed by Tchaikovsky. The UBC’s “Swan Lake,” which has received critical acclaim in the 12 countries it has been performed, will be followed by “Simcheong,” which has been staged some 200 times in 13 countries since it was premiered in 1986. It has been the UBC’s main repertoire since 2011 on its world tour, and will be mounted from June 11 through 18.

The KNC in August will perform “Spartacus,” which was voted the production fans want to see staged again. Yury Grigorovich’s version of the ballet was premiered in Asia in 2001.

To mark 400 years since Shakespeare’s death, the UBC will perform Kenneth MacMillan’s version of “Romeo and Juliet” on Oct. 22-29, and the KNB, “The Taming of the Shrew,” on June 23-26.

Both the UBC and KNB will close the year out with “The Nutcracker.” The KNB’s performance will be staged at the SAC on Dec. 17-25, and the UBC’s performance, at the Universal Arts Center on Dec. 18-31.