Sungjin Cho and Yunchan Lim to Grace Year-End Classical Stages

Yunchan Lim, Ravel's "Piano Concerto" with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra
Sungjin Cho, Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" with the Gyeonggi Philharmonic

At the end of 2025, classical music fans can look forward to a series of collaborative performances featuring pianists Sungjin Cho and Yunchan Lim.

First, on December 4, Yunchan Lim will perform Maurice Ravel's "Piano Concerto" with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall. Sungjin Cho will join the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra for their final regular concert of the year, performing Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" on December 11 at the Gyeonggi Arts Center Grand Theater and on December 12 at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall. Additionally, Sungjin Cho is scheduled to perform at the 30th anniversary concert of the classical music production company Vincero on December 14, also at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall.

Ravel's "Piano Concerto" and Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" were composed in 1931 and 1934, respectively, around the same period, and are both celebrated for their distinct individuality.

Yunchan Lim [Photo by Universal Music]

Just before composing his piano concerto, Ravel visited the United States and met George Gershwin, the composer famous for blending jazz with classical music in "Rhapsody in Blue." Inspired by this encounter, Ravel wrote a piano concerto infused with strong jazz elements. The first and third movements are known for their lively tempo, while the contrasting second movement is renowned for its lyrical and poignant melody.

This will be Yunchan Lim's first performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto. Since last month, he has been on tour performing this piece in Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China. His long-haired appearance during these concerts has become a topic of discussion on social media.

The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, founded in 1908, will be visiting Korea for the first time in seven years since 2018. Since the 2024-2025 season, British conductor Daniel Harding has been leading the orchestra as its music director.

The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia will open the concert with the overture from Verdi's opera "Les V?pres Siciliennes," followed by the collaboration with Yunchan Lim, and will conclude the program with Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2.

Sungjin Cho [Photo by Universal Music, (c) Ben Wolf]

The "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," which Sungjin Cho will perform with the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra, was composed by Rachmaninoff in 1934 at his lakeside villa in Lucerne, Switzerland, and completed in just six weeks.

After the fall of the Russian Empire in the 1917 revolution, Rachmaninoff went into exile in the United States. Influenced by Gershwin in 1926, he composed his jazz-tinged Piano Concerto No. 4, though it was not well received. Eight years later, he released the "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," often regarded as his fifth piano concerto.

Although the piece is structured as a continuous sequence of introduction, theme, and 24 variations, it mirrors the traditional three-movement concerto form: a fast opening section (introduction-variation 10), a slow middle section (variations 11-18), and a dramatic finale (variations 19-24). The most famous 18th variation has been widely used in films and is well known to the public.

The Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra will begin the concert with Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" Fantasy Overture, follow with the collaboration with Sungjin Cho, and conclude with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 "Path?tique."

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