A Seoul recital traces ‘different faces of musical truth’
Returning to Korea about a year and a half after a sold-out recital in 2024, pianist Lang Lang frames his upcoming Seoul performance around a single idea: honesty.
The recital, set for April 28 at the Seoul Arts Center, spans a wide stylistic range — from selections drawn from his 2025 album “Piano Book 2,” a collection that moves between classical staples such as Mozart and Beethoven and more contemporary repertoire, to the philosophical weight of Beethoven’s late sonatas and the sun-drenched rhythms of Isaac Albeniz and Enrique Granados.
“The main question I asked myself was: What do all these pieces share? And the answer I found is honesty,” the pianist said in a recent email interview. “’The Piano Book 2′ pieces are small, but they are completely honest — there is nothing extra in them. Beethoven in his late sonatas is also completely honest, sometimes brutally so.”
“And the Spanish works — Albeniz, Granados — they are honest about joy, about life. So this is a program about different faces of musical truth. I want the audience to feel that journey from beginning to end — from the intimate and pure, through the deeply philosophical, to the brilliantly passionate.”
Beyond the repertoire, the pianist pointed to his connection with Korean audiences as a defining part of his return. “The audience knows the music so deeply, but they also react with so much passion,” he said. “That combination is rare.”
He added that this dual quality creates an especially strong sense of communication in performance. “I always feel this strong connection from my Korean fans,” he said.
Fresh off a high-profile appearance at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Lang Lang continues to operate at the intersection of classical tradition and global popular culture. Named to Time magazine’s list of the world’s most influential people, he has collaborated with leading conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle and Gustavo Dudamel, while also engaging with artists across genres, from jazz legend Herbie Hancock to K-pop acts.
Yet despite the scale of these appearances, his artistic focus remains rooted in simplicity.
“That is because I think it keeps everything fresh — for me and for the audience,” he said. “When I play a Piano Book piece, I have to find the essential beauty of something very simple. And when I go back to Beethoven, I’m looking for the same essential truth, just in a more complex form.”
“And when I do big events — the Olympics — and I see people experiencing classical music for the very first time, it gives me so much energy. It reminds me why I perform at all. These things are not in conflict. They make each other richer.”
Tickets are available through the Seoul Arts Center and Nol Ticket, priced from 80,000 won to 220,000 won.
gypark@heraldcorp.com
