Base Yeon Gwang-cheol & Pianist Kim Jung-won Release German Art Song Album "Focusing on the Literary Nature of Music"

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] "I believe the root of all arts is literature. Because of my interest in literature, I am very interested in art songs. Among art songs from various countries, German art songs have the highest literary quality." (Pianist Kim Jungwon)

"Richard Wagner is a composer who greatly emphasized the importance of text. That’s why I came to like Wagner and performed many of his works." (Bass Yeon Gwangcheol)

World-renowned bass Yeon Gwangcheol and seasoned pianist Kim Jungwon have released a German art song album titled 'Hyangsu' and will hold a duo recital at the Seoul Arts Center on the 24th to commemorate the album release.

Art songs are a genre combining poetry and music. At the album release press conference, Yeon Gwangcheol and Kim Jungwon explained the reason for releasing the art song album by emphasizing the literary nature inherent in the music along with the music itself.

Yeon Gwangcheol is a world-class bass. He won first place at the 1993 Paris International Placido Domingo Competition and signed as a soloist with the Berlin State Opera from 1994 until 2004. Afterwards, he debuted at the New York Metropolitan Opera, the world’s top stage, and has been steadily active since. In 2018, he received the title of 'Kammers?nger' (Court Singer), the highest honor for German-speaking vocalists.

He is known as a Wagnerian singer because he has performed many of Wagner’s operas.

"About 40% of my entire performances are Wagner works. Wagner was a composer who emphasized that the text is as important as the singing, orchestra, and stage design in conveying the content of the drama. That’s why I came to like Wagner."

Yeon Gwangcheol has mainly performed on opera stages rather than art song concerts. He explained that this is simply because opera stages are far more frequent than art song concerts for economic reasons.

Yeon said, "I had vaguely thought that I might release an art song album someday. When performances in Europe were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I happened to receive a proposal for an art song album. Staying in Korea for a long time, the project became more concrete." He explained, "About 60 performances were canceled because of COVID-19. I only performed a gala concert in Berlin in July and have been in Korea continuously since returning in late March. The album recording was concentrated in June and July."

Yeon Gwang-cheol on bass (right) and pianist Kim Jeong-won [Photo by ODE]

Kim Jungwon naturally encountered literature from a young age thanks to his parents, who majored in Korean literature. Drama writer Lee Geumrim is Kim Jungwon’s mother.

Kim Jungwon said, "People store the emotions they feel at the moment in their heads as language, and as time passes and emotions become the past, they remain as language. When I perform music without lyrics, I assign a story to it and sometimes imagine dialogues and converse. Literature gives the most inspiration to my imagination." He added, "I studied abroad from middle school and lived in Austria for a long time. I have been a longtime fan of Mr. Yeon Gwangcheol. He often came to Vienna, Austria, for performances. I wanted to invite him as the top artist to work with."

The 'Hyangsu' album was released on the 17th. Nostalgia and longing are the main emotions of German art songs, called 'Lied,' which are recognized for their literary quality.

Kim Jungwon said, "I lived in Vienna, Austria, from the age of 14, and during my childhood there, nostalgia for my hometown was painful. Now, the nostalgia for my second hometown Vienna or Europe, which I left behind, is stronger than the nostalgia I felt for my homeland when I was young. German art songs evoke nostalgia, so I really wanted to do this."

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