Volume 25 Issue 4 - December 2019 / January 2020

Beat by Beat | Classical & Beyond
Looking Ahead
to 2020
PAUL ENNIS
Seong-Jin Cho, the 25-year-old South Korean winner of the 2015
Chopin Competition in Warsaw, is a polished performer whose
life changed as a result of his Warsaw triumph. From playing 20
to 30 concerts a year, he went to 80 to 90; and, thankfully, no longer
needed to participate in competitions. Because of The WholeNote’s
production schedule, I missed his sold-out Koerner Hall recital
on October 26, 2018, so I’m looking forward to his upcoming TSO
appearance January 8, 9 and 11 in Beethoven’s revolutionary Piano
Concerto No.4 conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
Some critics have called Cho’s playing “poetic,” something he
discussed on the British blog, Where Cherries Ripen, published on
October 1, 2019. “What others say about my performances may accurately
reflect some aspects of my playing style, but I cannot say I ever
intend to sound ‘poetic’. If I may put it differently, there are times
when I receive bad reviews, but I never intend to play badly. I think
an instrumentalist’s unique sound is like the human voice. Everyone
has a unique voice given to them, regardless of their intentions. For
example, a tenor can never be a bass. Of course, I can force myself to
perform wearing my heart on my sleeve, but this would not change
who I fundamentally am. Everyone has a natural way of performing,
and I play in my given way. I think audiences have been able to sense
that personality.”
In the same interview, he also had interesting things to say about
how he approaches playing a concerto with an orchestra, commenting
on how most ideas are in the score already, so it is important to carefully
study the score. “In my performances, what is most crucial is
to be confident. That confidence, in my opinion, comes from the
certainty that I know the score more than anyone else. Sitting between
the orchestra and the audience, I must be ready to say, ‘I know this
score much more than all of you.’ For this to happen, I have to carefully
learn the score. For instance, if some dynamics markings are
not taken into account because one wants to be different, such creativity
should not come out from instinctive feelings. One should be
able to explain why such liberties were taken, because one has ideally
thought through one’s decisions before.” With this in mind, he says
that before performances, rather than practise, he prefers to read
the score again. “During performances, I don’t think much, as what
I envisioned is fully internalised in my body and hands.” That being
said, he also admitted that he gets particularly nervous and pressured
when playing with a conductor who knows the piano well.
Signed by the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon yellow label
after his Chopin triumph, he’s already released three CDs, the latest
of which, Debussy, garnered wide acclaim. The Guardian wrote that
Cho “brings his understated, coiled-spring pianism to Debussy, and
his playing is as riveting as ever.”
In another interview, Cho told The Cross-Eyed Pianist
(November 2018) that the most important influence on his musical life
was meeting great musicians, “people like Myung-Whun Chung, Radu
Lupu, Krystian Zimerman, Mikhail Pletnev, Alfred Brendel, Murray
Perahia and many others … I learned a lot even while having a conversation
with them.” And he revealed that taking part in competitions
may have been the greatest challenges of his career so far. “I wanted to
play for audiences across the world and I thought winning the competition
was the easiest way to reach that goal,” he said. “And it was
true. The Chopin Competition gave me a lot of opportunities, but I’m
still against competitions. Many great musicians like Arcadi Volodos
or Piotr Anderszewski didn’t win any competitions. The competition
kills the musical idea, imagination and freedom. I felt so free after I
Seong-Jin Cho
won the Chopin Competition because I realized that I don’t have to do
this kind of thing anymore.”
One rarely hears such candour expressed by an up-and-coming
performer.
Two more must-see TSO programs
Acclaimed French pianist, the prolific Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, brings
his wide-ranging musical compass to bear on Mozart’s first major
piano concerto, the “Jeunehomme” K271, when he joins Bernard
Labadie and the TSO, January 22, 23, and 26. Bavouzet is currently
immersed in a Mozart concert project and Labadie is an expert on the
composer; their confluence augurs well for a delightful concert, made
Cathedral Bluffs
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Norman Reintamm Artistic Director/Principal
Martin Macdonald Guest Conductor
Saturday February 8, 2020 8 pm
DVOŘÁK & GERSHWIN
Weinzweig: Red Ear of Corn Suite
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
with pianist Brett Kingsbury
Dvořák: Symphony No. 5 in F major
TICKETS: from $35 ($30 student/senior; children under 12 are free)
ORDER ONLINE cathedralbluffs.com BY PHONE 416.879.5566
P.C. Ho Theatre 5183 Sheppard Ave East
subscription
(1 block east of Markham Rd), Scarborough
cathedralbluffs.com | 416.879.5566
concert 4
36 | December 2019 – January 2020 thewholenote.com
© HARALD HOFFMANN