When violinist Kim Bomosori was asked to describe her new album “Violin on Stage” during a press conference held Monday in Apgujeong-dong, Seoul, she relayed her acquaintance’s response to the album.

“My acquaintance told me that after starting the first track, he couldn’t stop the music for a bathroom break because it was like the movie ‘The Bourne Identity,’” Kim, 31, said with a shy smile. “He said the album is like watching continuous action scenes and condensed emotional scenes, so there is no time to relax between the nine songs.”

The violinist’s album, which came out on Friday under the German classical music record label Deutsche Grammophon, features familiar music from operas such as “My Heart Opens Itself to Your Voice” from Saint-Saens’ opera “Samson and Delilah” and ballet music such as the concerto version of “Pas de Deux” from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.”

Kim said recording the album with the NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic under the baton of music director Giancarlo Guerrero in Poland was not easy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I had to travel from Germany to Poland but the borders were closed. We could not travel by airplane so we had to drive there. Also, a few orchestra members, the conductor and the tone master tested positive. We were finally able to start recording in December. It was a miracle,” Kim said.

Regarding the concept of the new album, Kim explained that it was influenced by the performances she watched while studying at the Juilliard School in New York.

“When I was studying in New York, I got to see many operas at the Metropolitan Opera House at a low price. Watching the opera singers inspired me a lot and influenced how I play my violin,” she said. “I want to sing with my violin.”

Just as how the audience can picture opera singers’ characters and their stories by listening to their songs, Kim too wants to be able to weave beautiful narratives with her performances.

“Within the space and time in which I play, I want the listeners to be free from burdens of this world, even for just a second,” she added.

During the press conference, she also mentioned how the album had earned recognition from her professor from Seoul National University, violinist Kim Young-wook.

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of my professor Kim Young-wook’s release of his first album with DG. He doesn’t usually compliment me much. But he told me ‘I am proud.’ I was very happy and grateful,” Kim said.

To mark the release of her album, the violinist kicked off a series of four recitals on Tuesday. Her last performance will take place in Seoul on Saturday at the Lotte Concert Hall. Tickets for the Seoul recitals range from 30,000 won ($26) to 100,000 won.
 
The program for the recital includes Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 “Spring,” followed by Szymanowski’s Nocturne and Tarantella, Op. 28, Saint-Saens’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, Op. 28 and Wieniawski’s Fantaisie Brillante on Themes from “Faust,” Op. 20. Russian pianist Ilya Rashkovskiy, who accompanied Kim on the piano at the Tongyeong International Music Festival 2021, will once again accompany Kim on the piano in the recitals.


By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)