How to beat COVID-19 blues with classical music in new year

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the KBS Symphony Orchestra, which have been going through the rough times caused by COVID-19 since March with their programs and cast introducing new changes, announced new programs for 2021. The KBS Symphony Orchestra announced a year-long program while the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra announced its program for the first four months of the year to “react to changing situations with flexibility and agility.”

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s regular concerts from January to April will be all held at the Lotte Concert Hall. Starting with Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with conductor Sung Shi-yeon on January 21 and 22, six programs will be showcased. Music director Osmo Vanska will conduct Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1 as the main piece of his long-term program on April 15 and 16, followed by Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 on April 21 and 22.

Associate conductor Wilson Ng will conduct Paul Hindemith’s Matthias the Painter on February 18 and 19 while Lim Dong-hyek will play Alexander Scriabin’s piano concerto together. Former conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra Choi Soo-yeol and soprano Lim Sun-hae will showcase Les Illuminations by Benjamin Britten on March 25 and 26.

The KBS Symphony Orchestra will hold 12 concerts this year at the Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall, starting with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 under the leadership of Antonio Mendez on February 4. The concerts include performances by Beethoven orchestra music director Dirk Kaftan, who came to South Korea in February but could not perform due to COVID-19, female conductor Tania Miller on May 28, Kim Sun-wook on July 29, Chung Myung-whun on August 26, former music director Yoel Levi on September 17, and music director of the New York Philharmonic Jaap van Zweden on October 29.

It is also notable that Alice Sara Ott who saddened her fans with her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis last year is scheduled to jointly perform on November 19. “I can perform on stage thanks to the progress in my treatment for multiple sclerosis,” she said.


gustav@donga.com