Star pianists and Carnegie Hall

By Do Je-hae

The 2015 Chopin Competition winner Cho Seong-jin recently made a successful debut at New York’s iconic Carnegie Hall with a sell-out performance of Berg, Schubert and Chopin.

Winning a major event like the Chopin Competition is indispensable in launching a solo career. Being invited to play at Carnegie Hall for a young performer strongly indicates that they have great potential to be an international star. With his Carnegie Hall debut and a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, the 23-year-old is well-positioned to become a star pianist, something that Korea has rarely produced.

Cho’s Carnegie Hall debut has motivated me to revisit some memorable pianists who performed at one of the world’s most prestigious concert venues and think about what lessons they can offer for the budding musician.

The first that came to my mind was the Russian virtuoso Evgeny Kissin, who was invited to open Carnegie Hall’s centennial season in 1990 along with future stars like the great Japanese violinist Midori. Kissin, a child star who had performed with the great conductor Herbert von Karajan in his teens, was about Cho’s age when he made his Carnegie Hall debut. After Carnegie Hall, the music world started to recognize Kissin as a major pianist and not just a prodigy. To this day, I have not heard interpretations of Liszt’s “Rhapsodie Espagnole” (Spanish Rhapsody) or Schumann-Liszt’s “Widmung” that match the intensity and lyricism of the young Kissin at his Carnegie Hall debut.

One Carnegie piano landmark that resonates in the hearts of many piano fans is a series of performances by the late Russian virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz in the mid-60s, which marked his historic return to the stage after a long hiatus. The performances, captured by Sony Classical on disc, highlighted the beloved pianist’s strengths in Chopin and culminated in the mesmerizing interpretation of Liszt’s “Vallee d’Obermann.”

Another concert that generated huge anticipation among piano music lovers was a rare recital of Martha Argerich in 2000. Like Cho, Argerich won the Chopin Competition in her early 20s in 1970. One of the first female pianists to become a global star, the Argentine pianist focused on chamber music throughout much of her career. She had not played solo in the U.S. for 19 years before her 2002 Carnegie Hall recital. Her electrifying performance of the Prokofiev Sonata No. 7 is remembered as one of the most exciting in the hall’s history.

A Carnegie Hall performance is a landmark not just for young pianists. It can also be a turning point for artists in their mid-careers or older. That was the case for the genius Russian conductor-pianist Mikhail Pletnev, who made a belated debut in 2002 at age 44. A laureate of the Tchaikovsky Competition, Pletnev was already a highly accomplished pianist, but he was not as well known as he should have been due to his limited appearances in North America. The live recording of Pletnev’s recital was met with rave reviews by critics and fans. I remember being speechless after hearing his interpretation of Chopin’s four Scherzi, which were considered among the most sophisticated and powerful interpretations of the fiendishly difficult pieces. He dared to choose Balakirev’s “Islamey” as an encore at the end of a very taxing program, demonstrating his superhuman technique. Pletnev at Carnegie Hall was undoubtedly one of the most unique and dazzling recitals in the history of piano.

I have been following the development of Cho’s career since he won the 2009 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan with stunning interpretations of Beethoven, Schumann and Chopin. I was not that surprised when he won the 2015 Chopin Competition because he was a phenomenal pianist even as a teenager and I foresaw that he was headed for greater things after he left for the Paris Conservatoire in 2012.

After he won the most coveted piano award, he aroused unprecedented interest in classical piano music among the general Korean public and has earned national hero status. How he develops as an artist will depend largely on what repertoire he chooses to focus on in the future.

Just because Cho won the Chopin Competition does not mean that he should limit himself to becoming a Chopin specialist. The Japanese virtuoso Mitsuko Uchida, who performs regularly at Carnegie Hall, won a second prize at the Chopin Competition in 1970. She was one of the first Asians to medal at the competition, but she later became the one of the world’s most respected specialists in Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Schubert.

The common factor for the longevity of major stars like Kissin, Argerich, Pletnev and Uchida is that they have their distinctive sound and express colors and emotion on the piano like no other. They have also played a lot of chamber music, which expands their ability as well-rounded artists who can communicate with other musicians. These are some of the qualities that Cho should pay attention if he does not want to be a pianist who peaked in his 20s.

Do Je-hae is an editorial writer for The Korea Times. Write to jhdo@ktimes.com.