심선아
| 2023-03-02 16:35:57
S Korean maestro-German orchestra
S. Korean conductor Chung Myung-whun stresses importance of time in playing natural sound
By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korean maestro Chung Myung-whun said Thursday he realized how important time is to understand the true meaning and sound of classical music only after many years had passed in his almost half a century old career as a conductor.
Chung, who turned 70 early this year, will conduct six concerts by the Staatskapelle Dresden, one of the world's oldest orchestras, to be held in South Korea between Thursday and next Wednesday in its first trip to Asia since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The German orchestra will perform Brahms' Symphony No. 1 to 4 at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday during two of the six concerts, with the four others set to be joined by pianist Cho Seong-jin.
"I realized how time is important while conducting Brahms' music. There are sides in the music that I cannot understand, however hard I study and make efforts," he said. "For instance, I have conducted the Brahms Symphony No. 1 many times, but it was only after 10 years had passed that I could digest the meaning and the sound of the music. And when I reached the Symphony No. 4, I felt something was missing however hard I tried. It got a bit better only after 20 more years had passed. The sound became natural."
He said he was slightly over 50 at that time, about the same age as Brahms when he composed the symphony. Chung has been working as the orchestra's first-ever principal guest conductor since the 2012/2013 season.
"There still is so much gap musically with such a great artist, but I mean, I lived that long as a person," he added. "So when I see people, I judge them by their personalities, not by their success or something achieved in a short period of time."
When he thought he was old enough to understand all the meanings of life, he suddenly became comfortable with the job of playing classical music like symphonies.
As for Cho, Chung said, "He was only 13 years old when I first saw him."
The boy played a short piece at a hotel and Chung was surprised to see him playing it while understanding everything musically, not just well as a talented child.
Cho, who is now 28 years old, later became a star in the global classical music scene after winning the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition.
"He is the one that I performed with the most with among soloists and he is now an adult. I was very proud when I talked about him to the orchestra members," Chung said.
"The best thing about being old is that I can see young Korean artists who do better than I did when I was their age. I felt great about this."
Cho said he is honored to come to perform again with Chung after doing seven to eight piano concertos together.
He drew laughter from reporters when he said the worst thing about performing many times with the maestro from the beginning of his career is that his standards got higher, which made it tough.
Founded in 1548, the Staatskapelle Dresden is one of the world's top orchestras that has continued the musical tradition of the German court orchestra for 475 years. They are famous for their magnificent and deep acoustic traditions.
During its latest visit to South Korea in 2019, the orchestra received favorable reviews for its performance of Brahms' Symphony No. 4 at the Seoul Arts Center with Chung conducting.
Questioned about the orchestra's strength, its chief Adrian Jones singled out that the members enjoy playing music while trying to make a thick, very warm and broad sound together.
The orchestra will hold four more concerts in Seoul, Sejong and Incheon from Thursday to Sunday to perform Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Schubert's famous Symphony No 8, commonly known as the "Unfinished," and Weber's "Der Freischutz" Overture with Cho.
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