Georgian Piano Virtuoso Virsaladze to Perform Schumann Concerto with National Symphony Orchestra

At the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on December 6
Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 11" to be featured in the second half

Eliso Virsaladze, the renowned pianist from Georgia, will perform with a Korean orchestra for the first time at the National Symphony Orchestra's regular concert, which will be held at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center on December 6.

Virsaladze, who is 83 years old this year, is a piano virtuoso who won third prize at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1962. Although she held a recital at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei in May last year and has performed in Korea before, this will be her first time playing a concerto with a Korean orchestra.

Pianist Eliso Virsaladze [Photo by National Symphony Orchestra]

The piece Virsaladze will perform with the National Symphony is Schumann's Piano Concerto. The work originated as a single-movement sketch composed by Schumann for his wife Clara in 1841 and was later expanded into a full concerto. Schumann composed the piece in close collaboration with Clara, who premiered it in 1845. Rather than relying on dazzling technique, the piece stands out for its lyrical flow and conversational structure, with the piano and orchestra exchanging melodies in a way that naturally reveals Schumann's inner emotions.

The second half of the program will feature Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11, "The Year 1905."

Shostakovich based this work on the "Bloody Sunday" incident during the Russian Revolution, incorporating revolutionary songs sung by the people at the time to musically capture the tragic moment. The piece is characterized by the interplay of tense silences and explosive sounds, vividly depicting the atmosphere of the events. Shostakovich stated that through this work, he sought to express the universal emotions of oppression and resistance through music.

The KBS Symphony Orchestra also performed Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 at its regular concert at Lotte Concert Hall on November 21.

Conductor Aziz Shokhakimov
[Photo by Mischa Blank, National Symphony Orchestra]

This concert will be conducted by Aziz Shokhakimov, who made his debut with the Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra at the age of 13 and has attracted attention from an early age. Shokhakimov solidified his international reputation by winning second prize at the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2010 at the age of 21, and by receiving the "Karajan Young Conductors Award" at the Salzburg Festival in 2016.

A representative from the National Symphony Orchestra stated, "Through the works of Schumann and Shostakovich, we aimed to highlight a variety of musical voices that connect personal emotions to the memories of an era," adding, "We look forward to seeing how these two works, each with a different background, will resonate with today's audience and broaden the scope of their reflection."

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