On May 2, the Chamber Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will host a recital by Seong-Jin Cho, which will be held as part of the 16th Moscow Easter Festival. Today, the 22-year old Korean pianist, whose achievements include Third Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition and First Prize at the International Chopin Competition, is rightfully regarded as a world class performer. According to the words of the People’s Artist of the USSR Nikolay Petrov, at his concerts, Seong-Jin Cho “speaks with God” and his performance invariably conveys high ideals of beauty, kindness and truth. The evening programme features Chopin’s Four Ballades and Debussy’s Preludes, two milestones of the 19th and the 20th centuries piano music. Seong-Jin Cho performed these pieces at the foremost concert venues of the world and in November 2016 made his recording debut with Chopin’s music on major classical record label Deutsche Grammophon.
Composing his ballads, the Polish “poet of the piano” drew his inspiration from the themes of the national romantic literature, specifically, from the legacy of Adam Mickiewicz. That’s why their composition is not governed by pure musical logic and principles, but follows a literary programme, combining epical and dramatic features - up to the characteristic “fatal” end. The psychologism and the depth of the ballads music have made them an absolutely new, unique artistic phenomenon. Transferred by the magic of Chopin’s genius, they unveil a vast spectrum of diverse feelings and emotions. A distinct concert orientation of ballads and expressly contrasting divisions require a big style of performance and perfect expressive skills - which makes them equally interesting for both the pianist and the audience.
Following the example of the Romantics, Debussy also steps on the path of expanding the borders of musical consciousness. Attaching great importance to visual associations, he resorts to modern art and strives to find new sound analogues to fine art techniques. Like impressionist painters, who have abandoned the contour in favour of the colour, Debussy avoids melody, preferring to enthrall the listeners’ ear by colourful interplay of harmonies. What is more, going beyond the visual impact, the composer engages all five senses of perception. Endowing the music with a taste and a smell, Debussy suggests feeling the salt of the sea waves and fragrance of the evening scents in the plain air landscapes of preludes. At the same time, he puts his titles not at the beginning, but at the end of each piece, showing that he has no need of imposing his own views on the public, as the preludes are so graphic, that they are sure to evoke a wide range of emotions in everyone.
Nadezhda Koulygina
