Major classical music concerts in February and March will take the chill out of the weather as renowned orchestras and performers from Germany, the United States and Russia all come to Korea to fill the winter air with classical music.

Beginning in early February, the 171-year-old New York Philharmonic and its Music Director Alan Gilbert are going to perform at the Seoul Arts Center on February 6 and 7. The orchestra plans to perform the overture from Beethoven’s opera “Fidelio,” Op.72, as well as American classical music: George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and Leonard Bernstein’s “Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.” The orchestra will also perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, together with Korean pianist Da Sol Kim.


In mid-February, the 186-year-old Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne will perform for the first time in Korea at the Seoul Arts Center on February 15. Markus Stenz will conduct the orchestra and perform Richard Strauss’s “An Alpine Symphony” (Eine Alpensinfonie), Op.64. This will be the first time Strauss’s tone poem is performed on Korean soil. The orchestra will also perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major K.622 Adagio together with well-known clarinet player Sabine Meyer.

In March, the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and its young principal guest conductor Daniel Harding are going to perform at the Seoul Arts Center on March 10 and 11. Harding is one of the most promising British conductors since Simon Rattle, currently conductor at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Harding became famous when he himself conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 21 in 1996. On March 10 the LSO will perform Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain,” Stravinsky’s “Petrushka” and Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D. 759, his "Unfinished Symphony." The next day, it will perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major as well as Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op.16, together with Korean pianist Kim Sun-wook.



In addition to renowned orchestras from across the world, top-class classical soloists are going to perform in Korea as well.

Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin will perform at the Seoul Arts Center on March 30. Kissin surprised many classical music fans in 2006 and 2009 when tickets for his concerts sold out immediately. With endless cheering from his enthusiastic fans, he had over 30 curtain calls and played 10 encores for an hour at his last Korean concert. His fans waited until midnight to get his signature. Kissin will play Schubert’s Piano Sonata in D major, D. 850, and Russian composer Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp minor, Op. 19, among other pieces.

Bach specialist Angela Hewitt will showcase piano pieces by Bach and Liszt at the Seoul Arts Center on February 25.

Finally, the Hungarian-born British pianist Andras Schiff, one of the most respected pianists of his generation, will play passionate pieces by German Romantic-era composers such as Schumann and Mendelssohn at the Seoul Arts Center on March 25.


By Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writer
jun2@korea.kr