Pianist Seong-Jin Cho’s Berkeley debut featured in the San Francisco Chronicle
Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho won the International Chopin Competition in 2015. (Photo credit: Christoph Köstlin)
Pianist Seong-Jin Cho, a musical force around the globe, to make Berkeley debut
By Elijah Ho
San Francisco Chronicle
December 5, 2022
From “Parasite” and “Squid Game” to K-pop groups like BTS and Black Pink, South Korea plays an increasingly prominent role in the cultural fabric of the West. But in South Korea itself, when it comes to classical music, one name captures national attention: Seong-Jin Cho.
“I don’t see myself as a national hero,” the 28-year-old pianist, speaking from his home in Berlin, told The Chronicle. “I’m very proud to be Korean, but I actually get very nervous every time I play at Seoul Arts Center. I think that stage represents my dreams, my big stage. I don’t want to disappoint anybody there.”
Such a disappointment is unlikely when Cho, a gold medalist of the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition, makes his Cal Performances debut Thursday, Dec. 8, in a recital of works by Handel, Brahms and Schumann at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall.
More than a decade ago, renowned pianists passing through South Korea found themselves in utter disbelief upon hearing the boy wonder play.
“I first heard Seong-Jin when he was 12, and I was flabbergasted,” said Shin Soojung, Cho’s piano teacher since age 13, who spoke with The Chronicle from Seoul. “He already had everything — technique, memory, power, assurance. He can play octaves at the speed everybody plays with one finger!
“When Seong-Jin won the Chopin competition, he became a national hero.”
Cho’s 2015 victory resulted in an explosion of interest in classical music, particularly among youths, in South Korea. His debut album later that year went triple platinum within days of its release, and his concerts sell out within seconds.
His appeal, however, extends beyond nationalistic fervor, as The Chronicle’s classical music critic Joshua Kosman remarked of Cho’s auspicious San Francisco recital debut at Herbst Theatre in 2017.
“What Cho boasts, as old-fashioned as this may sound, is a poetic sensibility that evokes the fantastical sound world of the early Romantics,” Kosman wrote.
While winning the Chopin is often the springboard to a major career, artists strive to avoid being pigeonholed as a Chopin specialist.
“After winning in Warsaw, I played Chopin so much I began counting the number of times I performed his E minor concerto. I stopped at 70,” Cho said.
Thursday presents an opportunity for Cho, who has an affinity for the lesser-known corners of the repertory, to showcase his artistry through Handel, Brahms and Schumann.
“Recently, I discovered Sviatoslav Richter’s recordings of Handel, and they were so beautiful, so different from Bach. Bach’s music is perhaps more complicated, but Handel’s is more from the heart. It sings more,” he explained. “I’m honored to be called a specialist, but I’m very excited to play something unfamiliar.”
An image of pianist Seong-Jin Cho (Photo credit: Christoph Köstlin)
Just as virtuosos like Richter, Vladimir Horowitz and Emil Gilels descended from Ukraine a century ago, South Korea may soon lay claim to the future of modern pianism. In addition to Cho’s victory at the Chopin competition, the country of 50 million now boasts the winners of the last two Van Cliburn international competitions in Texas.
Among the latest discoveries is 18-year-old Yunchan Lim, who captured the Cliburn in transcendent fashion this summer.
“We haven’t met yet, but I am so proud of Yunchan. Of course I am rooting for him,” Cho said with palpable excitement.
While South Korea’s success at music competitions is impressive, it didn’t happen overnight. The groundwork was laid by generations of teachers and musicians.
“We were so poor during the Korean War,” recalled Shin, 80, a former pupil of San Francisco-born legend Leon Fleisher. “Most families couldn’t afford to buy a piano. But Korea worked hard to become better and better. Today, I hear some of the kids here and I am amazed. They play so well. It’s like seeing the evolution of the human race.”
At the forefront of this inspired movement, whether he accepts it or not, is Cho, who represents the best hopes of South Korea’s humble past and its promise as a global cultural force of the future.
“In art, as in life, we shouldn’t define people as simply one thing,” Shin acknowledged. “Seong-Jin is Korean, but he is an artist of the world, a great medium — ne plus ultra — to convey the greatness of the composers, without showing himself off.”
Cho, on learning of the comment, humbly laughed off Shin’s praise.
“Maybe my teacher is too proud of me,” Cho said. “But I have so much respect and gratitude for Korean musicians of that generation. Korea was, economically, a totally different country then. We are only here today because of everything that generation did for us.”
Seong-Jin Cho: Cal Performances. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8. Tickets start at $36. Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. 510-642-9988. calperformances.org
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