Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music Will Return in May 2021

The Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music (SSF) will be held this year from May 13 to 23, The Korea Times reports.

The festival will present rare Beethoven works as well as his chamber repertoire, under the theme "Ode to Joy." The program was originally planned for last year to mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birthday, but was postponed and then moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We played all of Beethoven's quartet and piano works at past festivals. This year, we will play rare Beethoven pieces that haven't been played often," said Artistic director of the SSF Kang Dong-suk. "Up to 11 out of the 13 works we plan to play will be for the first time in this festival ... The rest of the program we will proceed with as we had planned for the 2020 season."

The program includes Beethoven's Duo for Clarinet & Bassoon in B-flat Major WoO 27 No. 3, Piano Trio in B-flat Major WoO 39, Seven Variations on "Bei Mannern, welche Liebe Fuhlen" (In men, who feel love) for Cello and Piano, WoO 46 and Serenade for Flute, Violin and Viola in D Major Op. 25.

The festival will also include rare classical works, such as J. W. Krogulski's Piano Octet in D Minor Op. 6," J. Ibert's Entracte for Flute and Guitar, and E. Schulhoff's Concertino for Flute, Viola and Double Bass.

Pianists Kim Kyu-yeon, Kim Jun-hee, Lee Jin-sang and Cheung Jae-won, violinist Han Soo-jin and guitarists Park Kyu-hee and Park Jong-ho will join the festival for the first time. Christopher Temporelli, the only vocalist at the festival, will perform "An die Ferne Geliebte" (To the distant beloved) for Voice and Piano Op. 98."

Read more on The Korea Times.

To post a comment, you must register and login.