A recital by pianist Cho Seong-jin was held at the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall on Aug. 28. Cho was invited to play as part of the 12th Chopin and his Europe festival that was held from Aug. 15 to 30, hosted by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. Cho was also the winner of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition last year.

Cho’s recital received a lot of attention from the audience, as all the tickets were rapidly sold out, before any other event in the two-week festival. The approximately 1,000 seats in the concert hall were all filled. Cho received standing ovations and played two encores.

The Polish daily Rzeczpospolita said that, “Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto could have been a cliché in his repertory, but Cho reinterpreted it in a bright manner with young energy and won standing ovations from the audience. His perfect technique and musical talent are more remarkable than any other of the Chopin Piano Competition winners last year.”

A. Jankowska, a producer at the Polish state broadcaster TVP, said, “I used to hear about Cho’s reputation, but was unable to listen to him play because tickets for his concerts were all sold out. I was deeply moved by his performance of Chopin's Polonaise No. 6 'Heroic,' which he played as his second encore. I felt like the moment came again when I was first touched by his playing at last year’s Chopin competition.”

The executive director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute A. Szklener said that the institute has had active exchanges with Japan, as the country has a lot of Chopin lovers, but that it hit a turning point after the Chopin competition last year.

He said that the institute has been considering various projects. These projects include an idea to hold local qualification rounds in Korea for the Chopin competition so that the winners there cold then enter the main competition. Another idea was to promote culture-related tourism by using Chopin-related cultural assets in Warsaw, he said.

Korean Ambassador to Poland Hong Ji-in said, "We will work with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in order to expand cultural exchanges between the two countries, such as supporting the institute’s Korea-related cooperation projects, and supporting concerts for Korean musicians, including Cho, in Poland.”

By Wi Tack-whan, Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photo: Yonhap News
whan23@korea.kr