[On Stage] Sunwoo Yekwon, Rachmaninoff New Album 'Containing Earnestness in Moonlight...'

Solo Recital Commemorating Release on the 18th at Seoul Arts Center

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon said, "I like the scenery of moonlight reflected on water."

This is one of the reasons why he chose the title of his new album released on the 12th of last month as 'Rachmaninoff, A Reflection.' On the first day of recording the album at Tongyeong International Music Hall in early June, he saw the moonlight brightly illuminating the sea in front of Tongyeong.

Sunwoo Yekwon said, "We recorded for two days. On the night we arrived, while practicing and returning to the hotel, the moonlight was very round, almost full like a full moon, and at that moment I reflected on my earnest wish." The earnest wish he recalled at that time is contained in the handwritten note in the album: 'I hope to raise it as much as possible even in this situation...'

On the 18th, Sunwoo Yekwon will perform pieces by Rachmaninoff (1873?1943), recorded with heartfelt sincerity, at a solo recital at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center. After the first half filled with works by Bach and Brahms, the second half will feature Rachmaninoff's 'Variations on a Theme of Corelli' and 'Variations on a Theme of Chopin.' These are pieces included in the new album.

[Photo by Universal Music]

For him, the piano works of Russian composer Rachmaninoff are special. One of the pieces he performed in the finals when he won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in the U.S. in June 2017 was Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. Since then, Sunwoo Yekwon has been known as the first Korean winner of the Van Cliburn Competition, a title that follows him like a badge of honor. Sunwoo described Rachmaninoff as "a composer who emotionally stirs the heart."

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Rachmaninoff's birth, and albums dedicated to him are being released worldwide one after another. Rachmaninoff was an outstanding performer, so much so that BBC Music Magazine selected him as the greatest pianist of the recording era. Although Rachmaninoff's piano concertos are the most popularly known pieces, Sunwoo chose the variations. He explained that he believes variations are the best way to showcase the composer Rachmaninoff.

Rachmaninoff had large hands to match his tall height of 198 cm. Because of his large hands, which were advantageous for piano playing, his pieces are known to be challenging to perform. Since variations are a form that allows for virtuosic display, they may best reveal Rachmaninoff's unique color.

Sunwoo Yekwon said, "Variations are pieces where composers put all their ideas into various forms. Therefore, I think variations were suitable to show and convey the composer Rachmaninoff."

The fact that the first Rachmaninoff piece he studied was the Variations on a Theme of Corelli also became a reason for selecting it for the album. He recalled that he first studied Rachmaninoff's pieces about two to three years after going to study in the U.S.

"I went to study in the U.S. when I was 15, and around 17 or 18, I think I first studied Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Corelli. I received a lot of guidance from my teacher, Seymour Lipkin, and the melodies he played still remain in my ears. I think that's how I developed my expressiveness and grew."

[Photo by Universal Music]

Having earned the distinction of being the first Korean to win the Van Cliburn Competition with Rachmaninoff's pieces, Rachmaninoff is also the figure who shaped Sunwoo Yekwon's existence today. This is another reason why the album filled with Rachmaninoff's pieces is titled Reflection. Sunwoo explained that this album reflects himself. "With this album, I wanted to check myself again as if looking into a mirror. Sometimes you want to look in the mirror, but sometimes you don't, but since that is also your true self, I wanted to face and confront that original self."

The reason his earnestness was so great during the recording in Tongyeong was because his physical condition was not perfect. The recording took place over two days amid a tight schedule that included long-postponed military reserve training and a performance schedule in New York requiring departure. His condition was so poor during the reserve training that he had to visit a hospital, and he was not fully recovered at the time of recording. Sunwoo said, "It was my fault for not managing my physical condition properly, but at the moment of recording, I tried to focus to raise everything as much as possible physically and mentally," adding, "I think many special things come out when pushed to the extreme."

Sunwoo Yekwon has been on a nationwide tour commemorating the release of his new album since May 23, starting in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. After the concert at the Seoul Arts Center on the 18th, he will conclude the nearly month-long nationwide tour with a performance in Yeosu on the 20th.

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