Three concertos of composer Chin Un-suk, played by Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra with maestro Chung Myung-hwun, are now available on CD.
The Deutsche Grammophon album, which was globally released Tuesday, features the Korean artist’s compositions for three different instruments ― piano, cello and the Chinese mouth organ or “sheng.” It is the world’s first recording of the works. The featured soloists are Kim Sun-wook on piano, Alban Gerhardt on cello and Wu Wie on sheng.
Composer Chin Un-suk (right) with maestro Chung Myung-whun on the cover of their album which was released Tuesday ( Universal Music)
“I am honored by the tremendous efforts that have been put into this album,” Chin told reporters in Seoul during recording in January.
For the Seoul Philharmonic, it is the eighth album in its 10-record deal with DG, a top classical music label owned by Universal. It is to perform the sheng concerto titled “Su” with Wei at the BBC Proms festival in London in August.
Born in Seoul and based in Berlin, Chin is one of the most celebrated composers of contemporary music. She is best known for her Violin Concerto, for which she won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in 2004, and her first opera “Alice in Wonderland” that opened the 2007 Munich Opera Festival.
She is the composer-in-residence for the Seoul Phil and has been running a series of contemporary music concerts with the orchestra under a program called “Ars Nova” for eight years now.
By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)