Osmo V?nsk? Debuts as Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director with Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"

At Lotte Concert Hall on the 14th and 15th

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Osmo V?nsk?, the new music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, will make his Seoul Philharmonic debut with Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection." V?nsk?'s debut performance will take place on the 14th and 15th at the Lotte Concert Hall.

"Resurrection" is a work inspired by Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 "Choral." After completing the single-movement symphonic poem "Funeral March," Mahler added three movements to complete a four-movement symphony in 1893. Later, based on Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's poem "Resurrection," he added a final fifth movement, completing the symphony "Resurrection," which lasts about 90 minutes.

"Resurrection" begins with the first movement expressing curiosity about life after death, moves through the elegant dance-like second movement, and reaches the bustling third movement. The fourth movement features "Urlicht" ("Primal Light"), with lyrics from Mahler's song cycle "Des Knaben Wunderhorn," performed by a vocalist. The symphony concludes with the dynamic fifth movement, the core of the work, offering answers to the questions posed in the earlier movements.

V?nsk? recorded "Resurrection" last year with the Minnesota Orchestra. He has served as music director of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2003 and has been engaged in a complete Mahler symphony recording project since 2017. The Seoul Philharmonic also recorded and released "Resurrection" in April 2012 with former music director Myung-Whun Chung under the Deutsche Grammophon (DG) label.

Mezzo-soprano Catriona Morrison, winner of the 2017 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, and soprano Siobhan Stagg, who was principal soloist at the Berlin Deutsche Oper for six years, will perform as soloists.

Osmo V?nsk? [Photo by Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra]

In February, besides V?nsk?'s debut concerts, the Seoul Philharmonic will hold two more performances.

On the 21st, at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall, they will perform Mozart's Symphony No. 36 "Linz," Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," and Park Young-hee's "Goun Nim." "Goun Nim" is a 1998 work by Park Young-hee, premiered by the Bremen Philharmonic to commemorate the reopening of the Bremen Museum of Art. Park Young-hee titles her works in Korean, such as "Sound," "Nim," "Heart," and "Taryeong," incorporating many traditional Korean instruments to promote Korea in the European contemporary music scene. The composer, active mainly in Germany, was awarded the "Berlin Art Prize" by the German Academy of Arts on January 10.

The conductor will be Kazushi Ono, who serves as artistic director of the Tokyo New National Theatre Opera and music director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Ono personally selected Park Young-hee's "Goun Nim" for the program.

On the 29th, also at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall, the orchestra will perform Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10 and Glazunov's Violin Concerto, among others. Esther Yoo, a next-generation violinist endorsed by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) and BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists, will make her first collaboration with the Seoul Philharmonic. Esther Yoo was the youngest laureate in the history of the 2012 Queen Elisabeth Competition and plays the 1704 Stradivarius "Prince Obolensky," which she borrows. Glazunov's Violin Concerto is also included in her first album released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2015.

The conductor will be Tung-Chieh Chuang, who has won prizes at the Georg Solti International Conducting Competition and the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition, and won first place at the 2015 Copenhagen International Malko Conducting Competition. He previously collaborated with the Seoul Philharmonic in 2017, conducting works such as Stravinsky's The Firebird.

On this day, the Seoul Philharmonic will also perform "Three Taiwanese Altars" by composer Chi Chen-li. Chi is a Taiwanese-American who is also actively composing in Korea. "Three Taiwanese Altars" incorporates major Taiwanese musical traditions and will be performed by the Seoul Philharmonic as its Asian premiere.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.