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Seong-Jin Cho

The Handel Project

Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: February 3, 2023

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Handel: Menuetto in G minor
Seong-jin Cho- Interview in 2010 (with English Subtitles)
Seong-Jin Cho / 2018 0104 V LIVE, Press Conference
Seong-Jin Cho | TEDxKoreaTechU
Seong-Jin Cho / 2018 1205 JTBC Newsroom
Piano Concerto in E minor, Op. 11 (final stage of the Chopin Competition 2015
1 Adagio 02:36  
2 Allegro 02:18  
3 Adagio 01:37  
4 Allegro 02:10  
5 Prélude 02:16  
6 Allegro 02:29  
7 Allemande 03:05  
8 Courante 01:41  
9 Gigue 02:01  
10 Prélude 02:09  
11 Allemande 04:34  
12 Courante 01:43  
13 Air & 5 Variations "The Harmonious Blacksmith" 03:35  
14 Aria 00:49  
15 Var. 1 00:47  
16 Var. 2 (Animato) 00:42  
17 Var. 3 (Dolce) 00:44  
18 Var. 4 (Risoluto) 00:49  
19 Var. 5 (Espressivo) 00:57  
20 Var. 6 00:56  
21 Var. 7 (Con vivacitá) 00:38  
22 Var. 8 00:36  
23 Var. 9 (Poco sostenuto) 01:17  
24 Var. 10 (Energico) 00:35  
25 Var. 11 (Dolce) 00:48  
26 Var. 12 (Soave) 00:49  
27 Var. 13 (Largamente, ma non più) 01:25  
28 Var. 14 (Sciolto) 00:38  
29 Var. 15 00:44  
30 Var. 16 (Piano ma marcato) 00:31  
31 Var. 17 (Più mosso) 00:29  
32 Var. 18 (Grazioso) 00:51  
33 Var. 19 (Leggiero e vivace) 01:06  
34 Var. 20 (Legato) 01:23  
35 Var. 21 (Dolce) 00:51  
36 Var. 22 01:05  
37 Var. 23 (Vivace e staccato) 00:33  
38 Var. 24 00:33  
39 Var. 25 00:38  
40 Fugue 05:08  
41 Sarabande 02:36  
42 Minuet (Arr. Kempff for Piano) 04:17  
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Handel’s keyboard suites have remained strangers to most concert pianists. Seong-Jin Cho hopes that his latest album for Deutsche Grammophon will shed new light on some of the most heartfelt of all Baroque music. Set for release today, The Handel Project contains three of the 28-year-old South Korean pianist’s favourite suites from Handel’s first collection of Suites de pièces pour le clavecin. These are coupled with Brahms’s virtuosic Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, which Cho believes to be “the best variations that have ever been written”.

The artist was drawn to Handel’s keyboard suites after years of immersion in music from later periods. Having fallen in love with their wealth of musical ideas and wide-ranging melodic invention, Cho listened to recordings of the works on harpsichord, the instrument for which they were conceived, and refined his finger technique in order to give different tone colours and weight to Handel’s contrapuntal lines. He has avoided the sustaining pedal as much as possible, but modified some of the dynamic markings in order to exploit the potential of a modern piano.

“Of course, Bach is the most popular Baroque com­poser,” notes Cho. “But I discovered Handel’s suites a few years ago and realised that they contain so many great pieces, which are not so often played by pianists on a modern piano. I don’t remember when I first heard Handel’s music, but I have been interested in works by Baroque composers – Handel, Rameau, Couperin – since I was a teenager. I really wanted to explore this kind of music and was very happy to record this Handel album. For me, Handel’s music comes directly from the heart, so people can easily follow it.”

  • Seong-Jin Cho and the Chicago Symphony dazzle with Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Kernis / The Daily Northwestern
    Posted At: February 12, 2024 12:00 AM
    Pianist Seong-Jin Cho joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gemma New to perform Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 3,” Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony and Aaron Jay Kernis’ “Musica Celestis.”The Daily Northwestern's Ben Kim, Reporter writes…..Saturdays are always a busy time for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. But, this past Saturday, the Symphony Center was especially packed for Seong-Jin Cho...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho set to perform Haydn, Ravel, Mozart and Liszt at Athens Concert Hall / ekathimerini.com
    Posted At: October 2, 2023 12:00 AM
    Intense reflection and expressive insight are among the attributes cultivated by Seong-Jin Cho, qualities apt to connect with audiences at the deepest levels of imagination and emotion. The award-winning pianist has won widespread public and critical acclaim for his mature musicianship and refined artistry in an extensive range of repertoire. Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as "a master of the virtuosic m...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho's songful pianism on Handel and Brahms, largely enchants / Classics Today
    Posted At: July 22, 2023 12:00 AM
    Handel’s keyboard suites have remained strangers to most concert pianists. Seong-Jin Cho's latest Deutsche Grammophon album sheds new light on some of the most heartfelt of all Baroque music. The Handel Project contains three of the 28-year-old South Korean pianist’s favourite suites from Handel’s first collection of Suites de pièces pour le clavecin. These are coupled with Brahms’s virtuosic Variations and...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho - The Handel Project comes highly recommended / Audiophile Audition
    Posted At: May 30, 2023 12:00 AM
    Audiophile Audition's Gary Lemco writes….Korean piano virtuoso (b. 1994), winner of the XVII International Chopin Competition, turns to the music of George Frideric Handel (recorded September 2022), convinced that these original harpsichord suites of 1720 and 1733 possess an instant appeal to musicians who favor the modern, concert grand piano. In this regard, Cho follows both Glenn Gould and Sviatoslav Ric...
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  • Brahms Concerto and Louise Farrenc Symphony - Seong-Jin Cho and Yannick Nezet-Seguin chat with Philadelphia's 90.1WRTI
    Posted At: May 30, 2023 12:00 AM
    Seong-Jin Cho and Yannick Nézet-Séguin with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center in South Korea on Nov. 10, 2019. WRTI Melinda Whiting and Susan Lewis write…..Join us on Sunday, May 7 at 1 p.m. WRTI 90.1 and Monday, May 8 at 7 p.m. on WRTI HD-2 as The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert brings you a program of works by Louise Farrenc and Johannes Brahms from the 2022/2023 season.Yannick Né...
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  • La Scena Musicale profiles Seong-Jin Cho
    Posted At: May 26, 2023 12:00 AM
    La Scena Musicale's CATHERINE KUSTANCZY writes….Seong-Jin Cho shot to fame after winning first prize at the 17th Chopin International Piano Competition in 2015. Since then, Cho has played the Chopin concertos many times, but he is beginning to shine in other repertoire.Cho is keen to find new details in music, especially in the Chopin Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, which he performed in the finals of th...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho dazzles at Symphony Center recital / third coast review
    Posted At: May 24, 2023 12:00 AM
    third coast review's Louis Harris writes….In a dazzling display of youthful energy and vigor, Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho delivered a masterful, note-perfect recital before a nearly sold out crowd at Symphony Center on Sunday. He showed remarkable intensity and resolve as he worked through a lengthy program of German composers George Frideric Handel, Johannes Brahms, and Robert Schumann, and a modern compo...
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  • Andris Nelsons leads BSO w/Seong-Jin Cho in Ravel's cork-popping Piano Concerto in G / The Boston Musical Intelligencer
    Posted At: April 30, 2023 12:00 AM
    The Boston Musical Intelligencer's Jeffrey Gantz writes….This weekend’s two BSO concerts at Symphony Hall were party time for the orchestra. It’s not quite the end of the season — that will come next weekend, in a somber program that pairs Britten’s Violin Concerto with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar). But Ravel’s effervescent, champagne-cork-popping Piano Concerto in G and Igor Stravinsky’s color...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho gives operatic voice to Brahms, Schumann, Handel, Gubaidulina at Carnegie / New York Classical Review
    Posted At: April 13, 2023 12:00 AM
    Seong-Jin Cho’s recital at Carnegie Hall Wednesday night stood out for a rare kind of pearly, luxurious piano tone. Until it didn’t.New York Classical Review - David Wright writes……The Seoul-born, Berlin-based pianist set the expressive poles for a night of Brahms and Schumann with brief works by Handel and Sofia Gubaidulina, bubbling through the former’s Suite No. 5 in E major (“Harmonious Blacksmith”), th...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho makes a persuasive case for Handel's Harpsichord Suites / BBC Music Magazine
    Posted At: March 22, 2023 12:00 AM
    Handel’s keyboard suites have remained strangers to most concert pianists. Seong-Jin Cho hopes that his latest album for Deutsche Grammophon will shed new light on some of the most heartfelt of all Baroque music. Set for release today, The Handel Project contains three of the 28-year-old South Korean pianist’s favourite suites from Handel’s first collection of Suites de pièces pour le clavecin. These are co...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Seong-Jin Cho - The Handel Project is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: February 14, 2023 12:00 AM
    Handel’s keyboard suites have remained strangers to most concert pianists. Seong-Jin Cho hopes that his latest album for Deutsche Grammophon will shed new light on some of the most heartfelt of all Baroque music. Set for release today, The Handel Project contains three of the 28-year-old South Korean pianist’s favourite suites from Handel’s first collection of Suites de pièces pour le clavecin. These are co...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Seong-Jin Cho explores Handel's Keyboard Suites / Martin Cid Magazine
    Posted At: February 4, 2023 12:00 AM
    Martin Cid Magazine writes….Handel’s keyboard suites have remained strangers to most concert pianists. Seong-Jin Cho hopes that his latest album for Deutsche Grammophon will shed new light on some of the most heartfelt of all Baroque music. Out today, The Handel Project contains three of the 28-year-old South Korean pianist’s favourite suites from Handel’s first collection of Suites de pièces pour le clavec...
    Bookmark and Share

  • Seong-Jin Cho gives bravura performance in local recital debut at Celebrity Series of Boston / The Boston Globe
    Posted At: December 12, 2022 12:00 AM
    The South Korean pianist: Seong-Jin Cho was catapulted to fame when he won First Prize at the 17th Chopin International Piano Competition in October 2015. When Deutsche Grammophon rush-released performances recorded live during the Competition, the all-Chopin album was propelled to the No.1 spot in the Korean pop chart on the strength of pre-release orders alone. Having secured triple platinum sales in Kore...
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  • SPA presents Seong-Jin Cho - Chopin program at Houston's Cullen Theater / Broadway World
    Posted At: January 27, 2022 12:00 AM
    Seong-Jin Cho is quoted as saying….."Chopin's music is very honest, it reflects his emotional personality and it shows that he was not afraid to communicate that to his audience and to the world." Broadway World's A.A. Cristi writes……Seong-Jin Cho became a rising star in 2015 when he won the First Prize at the Chopin International Competition in Warsaw. Now the Society for the Performing Arts presents ...
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  • When it comes to Chopin, Seong-Jin Cho keeps his playing 'pure' / Texas Public Radio interview
    Posted At: October 1, 2021 12:00 AM

    Texas Public Radio's Nathan Cone writes......In 2008, pianist Seong-Jin Cho won the International Chopin Competition for young artists-five years ago, he released his first full album of Frederic Chopin's music for Deutsche Grammophon, and now he has a second album of Chopin out. Seong-Jin Cho says he feels more "free" with Chopin's music this time around on an album that pairs four scher...
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  • Innocent Beauty: Seong-Jin Cho releases Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 - Scherzi / Winnpeg Classic107 interview
    Posted At: October 1, 2021 12:00 AM

    For his sixth and latest Deutsche Grammophon album, pianist Seong-Jin Cho returns to the music of Frédéric Chopin with Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 · Scherzi. The album got it's international release on 27 August 2021 and features these best-loved works in interpretations characterised by thoughtful poetry and youthful ardour. For the concerto, Seong-Jin Cho teams up with the Lon...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho discusses the music of Frederic Chopin with classical radio
    Posted At: September 28, 2021 12:00 AM

    For his sixth and latest Deutsche Grammophon album, pianist Seong-Jin Cho returns to the music of Frédéric Chopin with Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 · Scherzi. The album is set for international release on 27 August 2021 and features these best-loved works in interpretations characterised by thoughtful poetry and youthful ardour. For the concerto, Seong-Jin Cho teams up with the Londo...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho plays world premiere of newly discovered Mozart piano solo / euronews
    Posted At: January 29, 2021 12:00 AM

    euronews.....Katharina Rabillon writes......Mozart week 2021 is now underway. The opening concert was performed by Artistic Director, Rolando Villazón, as he took to the stage with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra under the baton of Kery-Lynn Wilson. But the tribute to Mozart this year is marked by an extra special event: the world premiere of a previously unknown piece by the musical prodigy hims...
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  • Cho Seong-jin to premiere unheard piece by Mozart, in Salzburg, on composer's 265th birthday / The Korea Times
    Posted At: January 25, 2021 12:00 AM

    The Korea Times - Kwon Mee-yoo writes.....Pianist Cho Seong-jin will premiere an unheard piece by Mozart in Salzburg on the occasion of the classical composer's 265th birthday. Cho will play Mozart's "Allegro in D K626b/16" at the Great Hall of the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation, Wednesday, which mark's the Austrian composer's birthday as well as the opening date of the first-ever virtual ...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho - The Wanderer is a journey / LIMELIGHT
    Posted At: August 26, 2020 12:00 AM

    Too often we hear a piece of music or a live performance described as a "journey", but the latest release from Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho lives up to the cliché. Using Schubert's Wanderer Fantasie as a starting point, the 26-year-old virtuoso takes the listener on a road trip through that masterpiece's four movements, into the passionate late Romantic landscape of Alban Berg to finish up with th...
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  • The Romantic theme of the wanderer runs through Seong-Jin Cho's latest solo album / WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: June 4, 2020 12:00 AM

    The Romantic theme of the wanderer, a free spirit undertaking a journey into the self, runs through Seong-Jin Cho's latest solo album. The globetrotting Korean pianist's program includes two monuments of the 19th-century repertoire – Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy and Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor. The album also contains Alban Berg's Piano Sonata, Op. 1, a single-movement work of extraordinary inte...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho returns to Shanghai to open the city's 10th 'Music in the Summer Air' festival / Shine
    Posted At: July 5, 2019 12:00 AM

    Seong-Jin Cho, the first Korean to win the International Chopin Competition in 2015, returned to Shanghai this week to perform with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to open the city's 10th Music in the Summer Air festival. The city was among the first places Cho, 25, played after winning the prestigious event in Warsaw four years ago. He has gone on to play 100 concerts a year, working with musical ma...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho kicks off 47th Istanbul Music Festival / DAILY SABAH
    Posted At: June 10, 2019 12:00 AM

    The 47th Istanbul Music Festival will kick off tomorrow with performances by world-renowned musicians who have made praiseworthy personal touches on treasures of music history. Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the festival, which will continue until June 30, has been given the theme "Darkness of Being, Lightness of Being," inspired by the role of music in the journey...
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  • Silence, sadness, and glee in Seong-Jin Cho's Mozart / WCRB: CD of the Week
    Posted At: January 27, 2019 12:00 AM

    The winner of the 2015 Chopin Competition is just 24 years old, but he has a handle on the special kind of wisdom required to make Mozart speak to each of us directly – and that wisdom is evident on his latest recording, WCRB: Boston CD of the Week. When writer Frances Wilson asked pianist Seong-Jin Cho what his idea of perfect happiness is, he said he loves being in a place where there is no n...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho turns things around in Eastman performance / Rochester City Newspaper
    Posted At: January 18, 2019 12:00 AM

    Pianist Seong-Jin Cho played a sold-out concert at Eastman School of Music's part of the Fernando Laires Piano Series, and his performance gradually became more effortless. Cho turned things around dramatically after the intermission with Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." From the bold and majestic chords of the recurring "Promenade" theme to the playful, rambunctious quality of "The G...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho interviews with Spokane Public Radio
    Posted At: January 17, 2019 12:00 AM

    Seong-Jin Cho recently released his first Mozart recording, Piano Concerto No. 20 & Sonatas, on Deutsche Grammophon, boasting a dynamic interpretation of one of the composer's most powerful and dramatic piano concertos. The Korean pianist was fortunate that his earliest memories of Mozart were fixed by his parents' recordings of two of the composer's greatest operas: The Marriage of Figar...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho discusses new Mozart recording with New York's WKCR
    Posted At: December 18, 2018 12:00 AM

    Seong-Jin Cho recently released his first Mozart recording, Piano Concerto No. 20 & Sonatas, on Deutsche Grammophon, boasting a dynamic interpretation of one of the composer's most powerful and dramatic piano concertos. The Korean pianist was fortunate that his earliest memories of Mozart were fixed by his parents' recordings of two of the composer's greatest operas: The Marriage of ...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho - Mozart Piano Concertos is the WFMT 'Featured New Release'
    Posted At: December 7, 2018 12:00 AM

    Seong-Jin Cho, winner of the 2015 International Chopin Competition, has long been steeped in the music of Mozart. "I always fell happy, I always enjoy it, when I play Mozart," he says. "For me, Mozart has everything; his music has so many layers." For this album, Cho collaborates with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, who are sensitive partners in the drama...
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  • Cho Seong-jin to join Salzburg Festival centennial in 2020 / The Korea Herald
    Posted At: December 5, 2018 12:00 AM

    Pianist Cho Seong-jin will perform at the Salzburg Festival in 2020, the year marking the prestigious music festival's centennial. "It's a great honor to join one of the world's most prominent and historic music festivals and also to debut in the year that it would celebrate its 100th anniversary. Though the program has not been decided, I would look forward to making my debut there with a good program,"...
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  • IdeaStationWCVE discusses Mozart with Seong-Jin Cho
    Posted At: November 30, 2018 12:00 AM

    Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho has released a new album featuring works by Mozart. It includes two sonatas, as well as the iconic Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. WCVE: Richmond VA, Classical Music Host, sat down with Seong-Jin to discuss his collaboration with Nézet-Séguin, as well as hi...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho - Mozart Piano Concertos is a perfect blend of refinement and rhythmic vitality / Classical Music Sentinel
    Posted At: November 20, 2018 12:00 AM

    p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} South Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho won the First Prize at the 2015 Chopin International Competition in Warsaw. In 2016, he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, one of the most illustrious classical music labels. He has already released two recordings for the label which include a Chopin Piano Concer...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho, set to release his first Mozart recording, speaks with classical radio
    Posted At: October 30, 2018 12:00 AM

    Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho will release his first Mozart recording, Piano Concerto No. 20 & Sonatas, via Deutsche Grammophon on November 16. Cho was fortunate that his earliest memories of Mozart were fixed by his parents' recordings of two of the composer's greatest operas: The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. They opened the young musician's heart to the limitless compassion of...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho had guns a blazin at UCPresents debut / Chicago Classical Review
    Posted At: October 27, 2018 12:00 AM

    Gold Medal winner of the 2015 Chopin Competition, Seong-Jin Cho immediately became a classical rock star in his native South Korea. His rapid ascent was aided by a high-powered Deutsche Grammophon contract and a swelling of national pride in his being the first Korean winner of the venerable Chopin Competition. Clearly, the slender 24-year-old pianist's youthful good looks don't hurt either. ...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho set for 2 Bay Area concerts with Stanford Live & San Francisco Performances / The Mercury News
    Posted At: October 15, 2018 12:00 AM

    Ever since his Gold Medal win at the 2015 Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho has been dazzling audiences with a rare blend of phenomenal technique and depth of artistic insight. Now he's set to appear in back-to-back Bay Area performances, each one with a different program. First on the schedule is a recital at Stanford Live; the next evening, he'll appear at Herbst Theatre for Sa...
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  • Seong-Jin Cho discusses Debussy recording with NETNebraska
    Posted At: August 23, 2018 12:00 AM

    Following his two previous Chopin albums on the Yellow Label, it is entirely fitting that Seong-Jin Cho, winner of the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition, should turn to Debussy for his third album. Towards his life's close, the French composer edited the piano works of Chopin, an experience that reignited his creativity, opening his heart to music he had loved since childhood. In turn, Cho&...
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  • Debussy came naturally for Seong-Jin Cho on new DG recording / MOOD
    Posted At: July 12, 2018 12:00 AM

    Soft-spoken in conversation, Seong-Jin Cho is a force at the piano. At only 24-years-old, he has already released his third album, a collection of works by Debussy, on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. It was his win in 2015 at the XVII International Chopin Piano Competition that propelled him to fame and landed him his first album with Deutsche Grammophon. A Debussy album came naturally for...
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