'Acting Artist' German Pianist Igor Levit to Visit Korea in November

Performances at Seoul Arts Center and Gangdong Art Center on November 21-22

Igor Levit (36), a German pianist of Russian origin, will meet domestic audiences with a recital tour in Korea this November. This is his second visit following last year.

Pianist Igor Levit.
Photo by Vincero

On the 22nd, the concert planning company Vincero announced that Levit will take the stage at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on November 21, presenting a diverse program ranging from Romantic music to jazz.

In this concert, Levit will perform Brahms-Busoni's Six Choral Preludes, Fred Hersch's Etudes Volume 2?Hersch being a jazz composer and pianist with a long career?Wagner-Kochishi's Prelude to Tristan and Isolde, and Liszt's Piano Sonata.

On November 22, he will present another recital at the Gangdong Arts Center in Seoul, featuring Beethoven's late piano sonatas Nos. 30, 31, and 32.

Previously, in 2020, Levit gained attention by streaming his 15-hour and 30-minute performance of Erik Satie's "Vexations" live on YouTube and Instagram. At that time, he described the piece, which involves repeating a four-line score 840 times, as a "silent scream," fully expressing his limits as a member of society and as an individual who runs to the edge and shouts out.

People around the world who witnessed his sincere determination not to stop amid despair and frustration through the video were deeply moved, and he showed a steadfast image of moving forward.

Additionally, Levit publicly criticized the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The New York Times described his actions as those of "the most important artist of this era."

Born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, Levit moved to Germany with his family at the age of eight. He completed his piano studies in Hanover and studied under Karl-Heinz K?mmerling, Martti Rautio, Bernd Goetzke, Lajos Rovatkay, and Hans Leygraf.

In 2005, he was the youngest participant at the International Arthur Rubinstein Competition held in Tel Aviv, where he won second place, as well as special awards in chamber music, audience prize, and best performance of a contemporary work. In 2019, he was appointed professor of piano at his alma mater, the Hanover University of Music.

He received the 5th International Beethoven Prize in 2019 and the "Statue B" award from the International Auschwitz Committee in 2020. In the same year, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the Deutsche Grammophon Artist of the Year Award and the Opus Klassik Award. Currently residing in Berlin, Levit performs on a Steinway D grand piano provided by the Sadler's Wells Independent Opera Board.

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