A classical music feast featuring Mozart, Shubert, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Elgar has kicked off to welcome October's autumn nights.

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will present a series of special classical music concerts throughout the month.


The opener took place at the Naru Culture & Arts Center in Gwangjin-gu, northeastern Seoul. It focused on Tchaikovsky’s and Elgar’s serenades, a definite boost to the romantic air this autumn. Those masterpieces, plus Tchaikovsky’s string sextet, “Souvenir de Florence,” were reinterpreted by Chinese-American violinist Wayne Lin and the orchestra’s 20 string players.



Following the first concert will be an “Ars Nova” series on October 10 and 17 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and at the Seoul Arts Center, respectively.

Ars nova refers to a musical style that flourished in Europe in the 14th century, especially in France and Italy. It literally means a “new technique” or a “new art.”

The pieces to be played during the upcoming Ars Nova series have been coordinated by Jin Eun-sook, the principal composer at the orchestra. She is also the winner of the Grawemeyer Award, often dubbed as the "Nobel Prize for composers."

On October 10, violinist Wayne Lin and cellist Joo Yeon-sun will collaborate on Biber’s “Battalia à 10.” The tunes being played on their violin and cello will be joined with the deep, profound, low-pitched voice of baritone Kong Byoung-woo. Kwame Ryan, the Canadian artistic director at Germany’s Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra and at France’s Bordeaux Aquitaine National Orchestra, will lead the orchestra.


The second round of concerts is set to be held on October 17. It will feature pianist Choi Hie-yun, who currently serves as a professor at the College of Music of Seoul National University, and Bulgarian violinist Svetlin Roussev, the concertmaster of the orchestra.

The pair will showcase Stravinsky’s “Fireworks” for the first time in Korea, Kang Suk-hi’s Piano Concerto, a piece that was premiered by the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, and then Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1.


On October 24, the last concerts of the month will take place, again at the Seoul Arts Center.

Under the title, “Zehetmair Conducts Schubert,” the concerts will be led by Austrian conductor and violinist Thomas Zehetmair. Using his own style and technique, he will bring to life Schubert’s “Alfonso and Estrella Overture, D. 732” and Schubert's Symphony No. 9.

Zehetmair will then switch to being a violist, as he will put down the baton and pick up his violin to play Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra.” He will be accompanied by his wife and violist Ruth Kilius.

By Sohn JiAe
Photos courtesy of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
jiae5853@korea.kr