Conductor Jeong Myung-hoon Returns as a Pianist

Conductor Myung-Whun Chung (right).

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Conductor Chung Myung-whun is returning to the piano. It has been seven years since his last piano recital stage in Korea in 2014.

The performance planning company Credia announced on the 23rd that Chung Myung-whun will hold a "Chung Myung-whun Piano Recital" concert at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on April 28, coinciding with the release of his second piano album. Following the Seoul performance, Chung plans to tour with recitals in Gunpo, Suwon, and Daegu.

Chung Myung-whun, the first Korean to win second place in the piano category at the 1974 Tchaikovsky Competition, is better known as a conductor than as a pianist. Although he has not stopped playing the piano, his performances were mostly limited to collaborative stages or chamber music where he also conducted, so opportunities to see pianist Chung Myung-whun were very rare.

In 2013, Chung released his first piano album on the ECM label and held his first piano recital tour in 2014. The program he has prepared for his return to the piano stage after seven years includes late works by Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms. The recital will feature Haydn's Piano Sonata No. 60, Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30, and Brahms' Three Intermezzi Op. 117, which are also on the album to be released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) in April, with the addition of Brahms' Four Piano Pieces Op. 119. All these are late works composed by the composers in their 50s and 60s, similar to the age at which Chung Myung-whun returns to the piano stage.

While his previous piano album had the concept of "music I want to tell my grandchildren," this new album contains his "personal aspiration" to express various facets of life through music.

Tickets will be pre-opened on the 25th exclusively for Club Balcony paid members, and general members can purchase tickets from the 26th via Interpark and the Seoul Arts Center website.

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