Classical music floating in fall

“Jung Da-un Trio” recorded its performance for “Classical Music with Six Landscapes” on Friday, a part of the 5th Mapo Classical Music Festival organized by the Mapo Art Center. In the middle of the grass at Nanjicheon Park, Sangam, Seoul sat a grand piano against a high sky that cleared up after Typhoon Maysak, creating a surrealist feel. Five cameras were used for the shoot.

On the director’s cue, beautiful melodies of Beethoven’s variations on “With Men Who Feel Love” started to fill the air. Drones were lifted into the sky while children were running across the field behind the players with butterfly nets in their hands as if nothing was going on.

An hour later, at Haneul Park in Sangam, Moon Ji-yeong in a pink dress sat at a piano surrounded by silver grass. The grass danced in the wind, and grass bugs sang in harmony. As the shooting began, Schumann’s Blumenstück played along the horizon. The shooting in both locations continued even after the sun sets and the moon rose high into the dark sky.

The Mapo Classical Music Festival, which marks the 5th anniversary this year, has moved most programs online in line with social distancing measures. For “Classical Music with Six Landscapes,” six performances have been filmed at different locations in Mapo, such as streets in the Hongik University area, and will be uploaded everyday one by one from October 6~8 and 13~15 on Mapo Art Center’s YouTube channel and Naver TV. The six players and teams include Cellist Yang Seong-won and Ensemble OPUS.


gustav@donga.com