Seonwook Kim Collaborates with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21... Also Conducts

On the 28th, the chamber music stage features Franck's Piano Quintet

Pianist Kim Sunwook will perform consecutive collaboration stages with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) on the 26th and 28th.

On the 26th, he will collaborate on Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 at the SPO's regular concert held at Lotte Concert Hall. Kim Sunwook is scheduled to both conduct and play the piano. After completing the first part of the collaboration stage, he will fully take on conducting duties in the second part, performing Richard Strauss's symphonic poem "Death and Transfiguration" and Strauss's opera "Der Rosenkavalier" suite.

Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 was composed in 1785, just one month after completing Piano Concerto No. 20. He wrote the piece to perform it himself at his own "subscription concert," and it premiered with him as the soloist. The work showcases the soloist's virtuosity while highlighting the ensemble between the orchestra and solo instrument and features experimental tonal changes. Notably, the second movement became widely known to the public as the theme music for the 1967 Swedish film "Elvira Madigan."

Seonwook Kim [Photo by Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (c) Marco Borggreve]

The piece consists of three movements: the lively and bright first movement contrasts with the melancholic second movement, and the final third movement reaches a cadenza for the piano, finishing brilliantly with ascending scales as if soaring.

Richard Strauss's second symphonic poem, "Death and Transfiguration," was composed to express "the death of an artist striving to reach a very high ideal," according to Strauss. It vividly depicts the physical and psychological changes of a person facing death. The work is structured in four parts, portraying the image of a dying patient in "Largo," depicting the struggle against death, recalling the brilliant past, and narrating the world beyond death as the music unfolds.

The opera "Der Rosenkavalier" is a cheerful and witty opera reminiscent of Mozart's comedies, composed by Strauss following his groundbreaking works "Elektra" and "Salome." The "Der Rosenkavalier" suite richly contains Strauss's distinctive color and originality, including two popular waltzes: the "Mad Waltz" from Act 3 and the "Waltz of the Baron Ochs" from Act 2, along with songs and music used in the opera.

On the 28th, Kim Sunwook will also participate in the SPO's chamber music concert held at Sejong Chamber Hall in Sejong Center, performing the Piano Quintet by French composer C?sar Franck (1822?1890).

This piece is known to express Franck's frustration and anger over an impossible love with a secretly loved student while he was an organ professor at the Paris Conservatory. Franck dedicated this piece to Camille Saint-Sa?ns, who premiered it on piano in 1880. Unusually for chamber music, it employs a "cyclic theme" form, where a single theme recurs throughout the entire work, which consists of three movements. It begins with an intense and mournful string theme, followed by the piano's heart-wrenching melody, then adopts a calm and restrained atmosphere before concluding with a passionate coda variation and a rich sound.

Conductor Kim Sun-wook [Photo by Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra]

Besides the collaboration with Kim Sunwook, the SPO will also perform Schubert's String Trio and Mozart's Flute Quartet No. 1.

Schubert's String Trio was completed in 1816 after he resigned from teaching and stayed at the home of his close friend Franz Schober. Like many of Schubert's instrumental works, it remains unfinished, consisting of the first movement and an incomplete second movement, but it can be considered a miniature containing Schubert's musical vision. The first movement, which can be regarded as the entirety of the piece, is lyrical and gentle, following the sonata form relatively faithfully. Mozart's Flute Quartet No. 1 is the most famous among the four works he left with the same instrumentation. The unique ensemble of flute and three string instruments gives it the character of a small concerto, with the flute playing the solo melodic part. The contrasting sounds and timbres of the wind and string instruments achieve a beautiful balance, and all three movements offer a comfortable feeling with relatively simple structures rather than profound expressions or demanding techniques.

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