Chung to present complete Brahms sonatas
Legendary Korean violinist Chung Kyung-wha will hold a series of concerts in September with pianist Kevin Kenner featuring the complete Brahms violin sonatas.
The duo of many years will present three repertoires: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G Major, “Regen,” Op. 78; Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A Major, “Thun,” Op. 100; and Sonata for Violin and Piano No.3 in D minor, Op. 108 — all three violin sonatas by the German composer.
It will be the first time in 24 years that Chung, 71, presents the complete Brahms violin sonatas in cities across Korea.
In 1998, she released a recording of the sonatas on EMI Classics with pianist Peter Frankl. The album was awarded the Diapason d’Or, the highest recommendation of outstanding classical recordings by France-based Diapason Magazine.
Chung and Kenner, the top prize winner in the 1990 International Chopin Piano Competition in Poland, have been presenting concerts together for the past nine years. They met at a music festival in Korea in 2011. Chung has shown a deep trust in the partnership with the 56-year-old American pianist, calling it a “gift from heaven.”
The duo’s Brahms concerts will start on the evening of Sept. 19 at the Art Center Incheon. The next concert is on Sept. 22 at Chuncheon Culture & Art Center in the eastern province of Gangwon, while the final concert is slated for Sept. 27 at Gumi Art Center in the southeastern city of Gumi.
Chung’s legendary career began in 1967 when she won the prestigious Leventritt International Violin Competition in the U.S. Chung, 19 at the time, was awarded joint first prize with Pinchas Zukerman. She was the first non-Western musician to win it.
In 1970, she successfully made her European debut in the U.K. with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Andre Previn, playing the Tchaikovsky Concerto.
In her near 50-year globe-trotting musical career, Chung has released dozens of CDs on major international classical music labels, including DG, Decca, RCA, EMI and Warner Classics.
She has also performed with the world’s most celebrated and greatest orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and London Philharmonic, closely working with some of the world’s finest conductors and pianists, including the late Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Radu Lupu and Krystian Zimerman.
Chung also taught at the Juilliard School, her alma mater, during a break of several years from performances after a finger injury in 2005. She had a successful comeback in 2010. In 2014, she made a much-anticipated return to European concerts.
The violin virtuoso is one of the first generation of top-notch Asian classical musicians, providing much inspiration to future generations of Korean musicians, along with her brother, pianist and conductor Chung Myung-whun, and her sister, cellist Chung Myung-wha.