Alexander Melnikov is coming to Seoul on October 31, at the Sejong Cultural Center to perform the late Beethoven piano sonatas — a very special event for what will undoubtedly be the best piano recital of the season. Melnikov is one of the few proteges of Sviatoslav Richter, one of the greatest Russian pianist of the Twentieth Century.
Melnikov is an uncanny pianist in that he reaches well beyond the notes on the instrument when he plays. His sound is orchestral and polished yet, he will often surprise with his own interpretations of pieces that are unique.
Melnikov is also a pianist that delves into historical recordings such as his recent recording of the Brahms Horn Trio (piano, natural horn, violin) which he used his own 1875 Bosendorfer grand for. Per his thoughts on this recording:
my piano is very demanding to play, especially when trying to repeat softly. For example the last movement of the violin sonata took hours and hours to practice. At the recording studio it is also not unlike a fighter jet — 1 hour flight time requires 5 hours maintenance, but all this is worth it because it has a truly beautiful sound. The recording in Teldex Studio Berlin was made absolutely naturally, using a pair of 1950s Neumann microphones for the fortepiano and something more modern for the natural horn and the gut-strung violin but of course all microphones pick up all instruments. In fact as soon as we started to rehearse we realized that the endless balance problems which one ALWAYS faces with this trio are suddenly miraculously gone. . .
For tickets (in English), call 02-888-2698 or 010-3817-7214 or try www.ticketlink.co.kr or www.interpark.com .
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
How did we get from ‘Boobiestar Galactica’ to this?
#1,
The range of culture presented thanks to Robert and his colleagues is like the Chollima, it knows no bounds.
Robert is busy, thus he grabs the low hanging fruit first whereas I have a longer arm.
I see. Indeed, if you’re looking for gems of high culture in Seoul, you must look like Stretch Armstrong by now.
you’d be surprised steviebee, due to the high classical music learning fever which has existed for a long time now in korea and japan (china as well now) these high-brow concerts are very well received here with enthusiastic young audiences, and discerning classical music lovers, & presents much more vibrant scene than the e.g. british audience comprising of octagenerians who frequently drop dead during classical concerts…(except for the prom nights which i cannot stand)
. . . Plus “stevie”, there are more than a few Korean classical pianist who are exceptionally talented. Paik Kun-woo just had a concert two days back of a rarely performed work by Darius Milhaud. If you see his name and he is doing French music, buy a ticket because he is extraordinary in that realm; more French than the French themselves.
Melnikov is also extraordinary in that I may know what music he is playing but to hear him do it is an experience!
Well, consider me standing corrected. At least as far as classical piano is concerned.
there are more korean first class string soloists i would say than pianists – 정경화, 정명훈(as a conductor), 강동석, 장한나, 장영주,
백건우, i’m not so sure..
the classical music scene was the first arena where korean mothers found their outlets for 치맛바람 and their my-child-is-a-world-class-star syndrome, way before golf(korean fathers), figure skating and so on..
This thread has inspired me play an old cd of Kun Woo Paik playing works by Gabriel Fauré.
As a long time listener of classical music, I find Paik’s playing fine and lacking in nothing. Paik combines the solemnity of someone like Rubenstein playing Chopin with a crispness that must be Paik’s own.
Also, has anyone here yet checked out my recommendation for Unsuk Chin’s albums? If you haven’t do so now, you stupid fools! Go here:
http://www.amazon.com/Unsuk-Ch.....amp;sr=8-1
Well, Seoul Philharmonic Orch. will be playing some Unsuk Chin on the upcoming Ars Nova concert along with Webern, Berg, etc. Mrs. Chin will also give a pre-concert lecture. (in korean)
http://www.seoulphil.co.kr/Per.....mp;idx=109
I must say that the level of Korean classical music pianist is very high. We have accompanied some excellent young talents. A lot of them have won prizes at major piano competitions. Melnikov is good, but “the best piano recital of the season”??, not sure about that.
I’m sure “century” because I hear who comes through town and because I know Melnikov has been working on this repertoire for some time now. I’ve been waiting for this for a year now.
P.S. Compare his recording of the Rachmaninoff Etudes Tableaux with other performances for just one example why I consider him so highly.
I guess I wasn’t so smitten when he played Prokofiev concerto no. 2 with us back in 2006 but the Rachmaninoff that’s up on youtube sounds very good.
Oh, the second. Well, I suspect he is a bit tired of that one. He told me he thinks that one is “pretty easy”(!). I guess being Russian and coming up the way he did means that he has played the Russian repertoire a great deal but he will still do some Scriabin and Rachmaninoff for KBS while he is here.
The thing that I get with him that I don’t often hear with other pianists is that he takes chances. I heard him do some Chopin Preludes in a way I had not heard before and I got a chance to ask him why he approached them like that. He explained he had this concept in mind and was trying it. This sort of willingness to take risks is the kind of thing one gets from some players like Sonny Rollins who are willing to expose themselves to criticism instead of just playing what people think is Sonny Rollins. That sort of risk taking is rare in a classical pianist who nowadays are more apt to stick to a technically clean interpretation of the score.
For a limited time only, here is a sample of his work on the Brahms Horn Trio, Op. 40, 1st movement, playing his Bosendorfer (mentioned above). I will kill this link on Halloween.
“I must say that the level of Korean classical music pianist is very high. We have accompanied some excellent young talents. A lot of them have won prizes at major piano competitions.”
The above comment by Century made me think of the Lim brothers, Dong Min and Dong Hyek, both exceptionally skilled young Korean pianists. The Wikipedia entry for Dong Hyek is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dong-Hyek_Lim
I second that mention of Lim Dong-hyek. He is quite good. I have not heard him recently so it would be interesting to hear what he is up to now.
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