Pianist is flawless in Debussy, Chopin program
Seong-Jin Cho (out of 4) At Koerner Hall on Oct. 28
Hot newcomer Seong-Jin Cho had the honour of kicking off the 10th season of piano recitals at Koerner Hall on Sunday afternoon.
In high demand three years after winning the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, at age 21 Cho sold out the Royal Conservatory of Music’s main auditorium, including extra seating onstage.
The South Korean-born pianist performed a substantial program of pieces by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) and Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849).
Chopin might be the next bestselling classical composer after Mozart. It’s rare for young pianists not to include something by the Polish-born Romantic on a concert or recording schedule.
This year has marked the centenary of Debussy’s death, which has brought a surge of interest in his pioneering studies in musical atmosphere and colour.
Cho obliged with six pieces chosen from Books 1 and 2 of Debussy’s Images.
From the Chopin library, he chose the well-loved Ballade
No. 3, the Polonaise-Fantaisie No. 7 and the Sonata No. 3. There wasn’t a single note out of place in Cho’s performance. He has phenomenal technique and the smooth yet crisply articulated touch much prized in the French tradition of piano playing.
Cho had also clearly attended to every interpretive detail. No section of phrasing, dynamics, tempo or balancing musical voices was left unattended. Here was a pianist who was leaving nothing to chance and there was no in-the-moment gust of emotional fervour.
Instead, we heard a polished program that followed every guideline of pianistic good taste.
The impressionistic pieces by Debussy fared best. The shimmering “Reflets dans l’eau” (“Reflections in the Water”) made a gorgeous recital opener, whisking us to a far-off dream world of dappled light and undulating waters. Cho’s runs were flawless, crystalline cascades.
Debussy’s music does not try to convey emotion; it is all about effect. Cho played it with remarkable assurance and rare finesse.
Chopin, on the other hand, poured his soul into his music. Although he was a fine craftsman as a composer, it is the emotional content that really makes his work fly off the page. And this is where Cho’s mannered approach let me down.
All of the Chopin pieces demonstrated the care of Cho’s choices, but there was little genuine emotion on offer. It was like a date who knows all the right moves and says all the right things, but their sincerity is a question mark.
This criticism makes the recital sound less satisfying than it was.
The proof of the audience’s enthusiasm came in repeated noisy standing ovations and the demand for more encores.
But I left Koerner Hall feeling I had witnessed the equivalent of an impeccably tailored man — beard neatly trimmed, hair freshly done and suit tightly tailored to a gym-toned body — who looks the picture of a sophisticated gentleman but who might be a cipher under the GQ looks.
It will be interesting to see how Cho matures as an artist in the coming years. Classical music writer John Terauds is a freelance contributor for the Star, based in Toronto. He is supported by the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation. Follow him on Twitter
Cho obliged with six pieces chosen from Books 1 and 2 of Claude Debussy’s Images