SPO launches fall season with Jung Jae-il's 'Inferno' before heading to Carnegie Hall
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's fall and winter program sets out a vision for the ensemble's future, the orchestra's music director Jaap van Zweden said at a press conference on Tuesday. At its core, he explained, it will showcase diversity and the orchestra's chameleon-like colors.
"It is a blueprint of what we have done over the past year, balancing legacy with adaptability. The future for a symphonic orchestra is to be a chameleon," he said. "A good example sits right next to me. He educated himself as a brilliant musician. We're always looking for brilliant musicians and talent, and you see that in our programming."
That example is Jung Jae-il. A music director, composer and instrumentalist, Jung doubted whether he could compose for a full orchestra. He is known primarily for his film and television scores ("Parasite," "Squid Game," "Mickey 17"), and admitted he felt "so small" next to the SPO's tradition of performing Brahms, Beethoven and Mahler.
Van Zweden's response was simple but transformative: "The biggest risk in life is not taking the risk. Don't compare yourself with others." He encouraged Jung to "just tell a story," reminding him that music doesn't have to compete with the past but can reflect the present.
Dubbed the "artists' artist," Jung, 43, with 27 years of experience in music, has showcased a wide spectrum of output.
Written for SPO, "Inferno" is a 15-minute piece inspired by Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities" -- the last paragraph, asking whether we can find something beyond the inferno within and around us.
"The music gradually layers before erupting like a volcano and taking on many different forms," he said. "In the end, what matters most is what the audience feels for themselves, and my only hope is that the piece lingers in their hearts as they leave the concert hall."
In addition to the "Inferno" premiere, SPO also presents Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," featuring Park Jae-hong, the winner of the 2021 Busoni Competition. The program concludes with Brahms' Symphony No. 1, a monumental work that took the composer over two decades to complete. The program will be performed Thursday and Friday at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul.
The SPO then embarks on a US tour. Having received its first-ever invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall, the orchestra heads to the iconic venue's Stern Auditorium on Oct. 27 for the US premiere of Jung's "Inferno." Other pieces on the program include Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, as well as Mendelssohn's Violin Sonata, featuring Kim Bomsori, a laureate of the Wieniawski and ARD competitions.
The orchestra next travels to the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University, bringing four unique performances that combine new works and popular repertoire with the SPO's distinctive colors.
In addition to Jung, SPO will introduce Shin Donghoon's "Upon His Ghostly Solitude," co-commissioned by SPO, LA Philharmonic and Bambery Symphony.
Regarding the US tour, van Zweden said it feels like coming full circle in life -- returning with SPO as its music director after years of working with orchestras that included many Korean players and even studying with Koreans, including his Juilliard teacher, Kang Hyo. This time, he said he carries with him a sense of national pride, presenting not just individual talents but Korea's flagship orchestra.
He noted that US audiences may be surprised by the dynamism of Asia's classical music scene, particularly in Korea, where the art form enjoys a phenomenal following.
Bringing the SPO to New York, where he served as the music director of the New York Philharmonic, he said, is particularly meaningful because it allows the world to encounter both the quality of the ensemble and the vitality of Korea's musical culture.
"To bring the SPO to New York makes me very proud," van Zweden said.