Kumho Art Hall's 'Three Cities Story: Cello' Performance Switched to Audience-Free Online Live Streaming

Cellist Moon Taeguk (right) and pianist Han Jiho

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] The Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation announced on the 18th that the 'Three Cities Story: Cello' concert featuring cellist Moon Taeguk and pianist Han Jiho, scheduled for the 20th at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei, will be switched to a no-audience online broadcast.

The Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation explained, "Due to the government's social distancing level being raised to level 2 in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we decided to hold the concert as a no-audience online broadcast, prioritizing the safety of the audience and artists." The 'Three Cities Story: Cello' concert will be streamed live on the Naver V Live channel at 8 PM on the 20th.

Moon Taeguk and Han Jiho will perform three sonatas for cello and piano deeply infused with French artistic inspiration. In the first part of the concert, they will perform Chopin's Cello Sonata. Chopin's Cello Sonata is his last work after emigrating to France and his only cello sonata. Chopin dedicated this piece to the leading French cellist of the time, Franchomme, and premiered it himself on piano alongside Franchomme at the Salle Pleyel theater in Paris in 1848. The work embodies Chopin's anguish and sorrow in his later years, as well as his will and vitality to overcome them.

In the second part, they will express the free impressionistic musical sensibility with Debussy's Cello Sonata, a representative French impressionist composer, followed by the cello sonata by Poulenc, the most prominent composer among the 'French Six' who led French neoclassicism, concluding the performance.

Cellist Moon Taeguk was the first Asian to win the Pablo Casals Competition in 2014 and was selected as the first recipient of the Janos Starker Award in 2016. In 2017, he served as the resident musician at Kumho Art Hall, presenting five recitals, and last year achieved the highest ranking ever for a Korean cellist by placing 4th in the Tchaikovsky Competition. Pianist Han Jiho won 3rd place at the 2009 Vienna Beethoven International Piano Competition and took 2nd place without a 1st prize at the prestigious 2014 ARD International Competition. Moon Taeguk and Han Jiho first collaborated at the 2018 Ditto Festival and solidified their cello and piano ensemble by releasing the album 'Hommage to Pablo Casals' together under Warner Classics last year.

'Three Cities Story: Cello' is a performance presented by Kumho Art Hall's planned series Beautiful Thursday, featuring music from Russia, Germany, and France. Following Moon Taeguk and Han Jiho's French repertoire, on December 3rd, cellist Lee Jeongran and pianist Ilya Rashkovsky will present the German repertoire.

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