Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra to Hold 'Chopin Concours Special' on the 27th

Bruce Ryu, the first prize winner of the 18th Chopin International Piano Competition. (Photo by Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra)

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra announced on the 12th that it will hold the '2021 Seoul Philharmonic Chopin Competition Special' at 5 p.m. on the 27th at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

The concert will be conducted by Wilson Ng, the principal deputy conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic, and will feature a collaboration with Bruce Liu, the first prize winner of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition.

In the highlight of the concert, the performance of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, this year's Chopin Competition winner Bruce Liu will perform the piece he played in the competition finals directly for the Seoul Philharmonic audience. After winning the competition, Bruce Liu has been performing on a nationwide tour in Poland, the "land of Chopin," as well as in Japan and Israel. This collaboration with the Seoul Philharmonic marks his first meeting with Korean audiences.

The opening piece, Berlioz's 'Roman Carnival' Overture, is notable for its short and intense motifs in the introduction and its fast tempo, featuring the unique timbre of the English horn. In the first act of the opera, the sound of the tambourine and the swirling flute patterns lead into the Italian folk dance Saltarello. In the second act, the bassoon leads the piece, and at the end, the brass instruments and tambourine clash intensely, vividly depicting a lively carnival unfolding before the eyes in the Colonna Square.

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9, composed of five movements, conveys tension with a consistently fast and lively atmosphere. Notably, movements 3 through 5 are performed continuously without breaks between movements, and the final movement features an intense dance.

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