Seong-Jin Cho plays Beethoven’s poetic Fourth Piano Concerto. You can’t keep inspiration down. Michael Tippett heard the chugging of a steamboat on a Swiss lake, and his Second Symphony burst into vibrant, bustling life. Wagner wrestled with faith and philosophy, and created music that seems to hover, glowing, in mid-air. And Ludwig van Beethoven sat … [Read More]
Venue: Royal Festival Hall
Seong-Jin Cho plays Shostakovich
Seong-Jin Cho, winner of the 2015 Chopin Piano Competition, adds his ‘breathtaking nimbleness’ to the Philharmonia Orchestra in Shostakovich’s playful concerto. Cho has gone from strength to strength since winning the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015. Performing with the Philharmonia at last year’s Edinburgh International Festival, he won praise from The Scotsman for his … [Read More]
Igudesman & Joo play the Royal Festival Hall
Igudesman & Joo’s performance in the Cadogan Hall was one of LKL’s highlights of 2012. I think we all need a bit of cheering up at the moment, and these are the guys to do it. Don’t miss their Festival Hall appearance next week: Igudesman & Joo Wednesday 4 March 2020, 7:30pm Royal Festival Hall, … [Read More]
Gallery: Joo Yeon Park’s Library of the Unword
As described in the exhibition notice, Joo Yeon Park’s Library of the Unword and its central piece Twenty Times a Thousand (2019) is inspired by Beckett’s poem Echo’s Bones. According to the artist, Echo in Beckett’s poem Echo’s Bones (1935) refers to the nymph in Ovid’s Metamorphoses who is punished by Juno so that she … [Read More]
Joo Yeon Park’s Library of the Unword, at the National Poetry Library
National Poetry Library | Level 5, Blue side | Royal Festival Hall 5 December 2019 – 29 March 2020 | Admission free Joo Yeon Park’s Library of the Unword commemorates the 30th anniversary of Samuel Beckett’s death. The exhibition features an installation, Twenty Times a Thousand (2019), in response to Beckett’s poem ‘Echo’s Bones’ (1935). The work comprises over … [Read More]
Kim Hyesoon and Don Mee Choi in National Poetry Library Lates
An evening of poetry from two South Korean poets at the Hayward Gallery: National Poetry Library Lates: May Wednesday 1 May 2019, 8pm Hayward Gallery | Dan Graham Waterloo Sunset Pavilion Approximate run time: 120 mins Tickets £10 + booking fee | Book tickets here Our new series of late-night poetry salons continues with two … [Read More]
Shiyeon Sung and Sunwook Kim in Korea-UK Year of Culture Closing Concert
A celebratory concert to round off the performance strand of UK/Korea year of cultural exchange 2017-18. Late change: Shiyeon Sung replaces Han-Na Chang as conductor as Ms Chang is indisposed. Programme remains unchanged. Philharmonia Orchestra – Korea-UK Year of Culture: Closing Concert 7:30 pm, Thu 14 Jun 2018 Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre £11 – … [Read More]
Concert notes: Joo Yeon Sir’s Festival Hall debut
UK based violinist Joo Yeon Sir made a thrilling debut at The Royal Festival Hall last night. “Lament for the Valley”, a short piece for violin and orchestra, was composed for her by Karl Jenkins as part of his 2015 Music Award, in association with Classic FM. Conducted by Jenkins, Sir delivered an exhilarating, technically brilliant … [Read More]
LBF Event, 10 Apr 8pm: Reading and Discussion with Kim Hyesoon
The fifth of six evening events during London Book Fair week, which unfortunately overlaps with a session with Shin Kyung-sook, Krys Lee and Quaisra Shahraz at Asia House. Reading and Discussion with Kim Hyesoon 10 April, 20.00-21.00 Join us for an evening of poetry by one of South Korea’s most important contemporary poets, Kim Hyesoon. … [Read More]
Battle of the Divas: Shining K-Classics at the Festival Hall
Maestro Seigerstam eased himself onto the platform looking like a cross between Brahms and a benign troll, long white beard resting on a generous stomach, long white hair reaching down the back of his tailcoat. With a waggle of his baton, the woodwind started playing Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Overture and the Shining K-Classics concert … [Read More]
Shining K-Classics at the Royal Festival Hall
The last of the All Eyes on Korea musical events is of Western classical music, featuring two of Korea’s best-loved classical stars: Shining K-Classics Date: 31 July 2012, 7:30pm Venue: Royal Festival Hall Violinist Sarah Chang and soprano Sumi Jo, Korea’s foremost classical musicians, will perform with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Leif Segerstam at the … [Read More]
All Eyes on Korea: mark your diaries for the concerts at the end of July
There’s some very special events coming up in a month’s time. Jennifer has raved about Gong Myoung before, and I rave about Baramgot whenever I can, they are so amazing. If the rest of the line-up matches these two acts, you’d be mad to miss any of them. Buy those tickets now. All Eyes on … [Read More]
Korean poets perform in London
As part of the South Bank Centre’s Poetry Parnassus, two Korean poets will be appearing later this month in London and elsewhere. The event, part of the Cultural Olympiad, is designed to bring together writers from every Olympic nation for the 2012 celebrations. Representing South Korea is Kim Hye-soon: Kim Hye-soon was one of the … [Read More]
Event news: Sunwook Kim Plays Prokofiev at the RFH
Kim Sun-wook, who won the Leeds Piano Competition in 2006, makes an appearance on the South Bank this month. Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre 13 October 2011, 7:30pm Programme: Benjamin Britten: 4 Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.2 Interval Thomas Adès: Dances from Powder her face Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird, … [Read More]
Sarah Chang plays Bruch at the Festival Hall
Is it my imagination, or whenever you see a programme with a Korean violinist in London, more than half the time it’s the Bruch they’re playing? I sometimes wish we could be given something a bit more out of the ordinary – like the rarely-performed Delius concerto Joo-yeon Sir played last year. Anyway, it’ll be … [Read More]
Nothing to Envy: it brought tears to the eyes of a jaded cynic
LKL reports from the book launch of Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy – Real Lives in North Korea It was a well-informed audience attending Barbara Demick’s book launch at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday, many of whom had been to North Korea. As the strains of a Mozart Symphony wafted upstairs from the concert … [Read More]