After focusing on Southeast Asia’s literature and arts as well as supporting students for 10 years, the Hansae Yes24 Foundation announced it is expanding its scope to classical music, the German lied in particular.
For the inaugural concert, "Winterreise in Summer," the foundation presents German baritone Benjamin Appl, who will perform Schubert’s "Winterreise" D. 911, a song cycle set to 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Muller.
The 42-year-old vocalist said that he is delighted to present “one of the great exports of Germany” to the Korean audience.
“Schubert wrote 'Winterreise' D. 911 almost 200 years ago. Some words in the piece, Germans don’t even use anymore. However, it’s a perfect combination of poetry and music and a timeless piece,” said Appl. Appl is a banker-turned-baritone and the last student of renowned German baritone and conductor Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who passed away in 2012.
“Classical vocal concerts are focused on operas or star performers. Introducing the lesser known lied, which combines great literature with music, to Korean audiences, is also a way to contribute to society,” Baek Soo-mi, the chairperson of the foundation, told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday.
Appl, an established recitalist, has a deep familiarity with Schubert's "Winterreise." In 2022, he participated in a BBC film shot atop a Swiss mountain pass and also released a solo album featuring the song cycle.
Together with British pianist, Appl will make his Korean debut on Thursday at Lotte Concert Hall and perform for 90 minutes without intermission.
The foundation's expansion to classical music comes as the foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary. In 2014, Kim Dong-nyung, chairman of Hansae Yes24 Holdings Co, set up the foundation with his private funding. From 2018 to last year, Kim's wife, Cho Young-soo, a professor emeritus of German literature at Kyonggi University, was in charge of the foundation and focused on bridging South Korea and Southeast Asia, which holds a special place in the group’s founder’s heart --- Hansae Group’s factory was built in Saipan in 1982. Hansae, a well-known textiles company, now has nine affiliates in Vietnam and Myanmar and employs approximately 20,000 workers there.
The shift in the foundation's focus from Southeast Asia comes with the change in the leadership at the foundation. Baek, Cho's daughter-in-law, assumed leadership last year. Baek majored in classical singing.
“Our goal is to strike a good balance between music, literature and arts while resuming the students' overseas volunteer program that has been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Baek added.
