Seong-Jin Cho

In the coming months, we will be featuring interviews with musicians of various backgrounds. If you are a musician and would like to be featured in our series, please contact us at thecounterpoints[@]gmail.com. A complete list of our interviews can be found here.

In 2011, Alessio Bax (winner of the 2000 Leeds competition) told me about a 14-year-old pianist he had heard at the Hamamatsu competition, a prodigy from South Korea for whom “from the moment he walked on stage, any 40 year old would have been happy with that kind of performance!”. The wunderkind, widely known to insiders, would make international headlines in 2015 as the 1st prize winner at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Below is a transcript of our May 9, 2017 conversation with pianist Seong-Jin Cho.

(Our piece on Seong-Jin Cho for the Bay Area News Group, with additional remarks from Dang Thai Son, can be found here)

EH: At what age did you begin taking piano lessons seriously ? Are you from a musical family ? I read that you’re an only child.

Cho: Yes, I’m an only child. I started playing piano at the age of 6, but not so seriously, just as a hobby. I started to have lessons from a piano professor at 10 years old. There are no musicians in the family, but my parents loved classical music. We had a lot of classical recordings in the house, so I listened to them when I was a child. It felt very natural to me.

EH: How is your musical memory ? For example, how long does it take you to learn something like the Chopin Concerto in E minor ? Do you have perfect pitch ?

Cho: I do have perfect pitch. It really depends on the piece. For example, when I learned the Rachmainoff Third when I was 15 or 16, it took two or three months to memorize everything, because there are a lot of notes. But Chopin, both concertos, to memorize it, was maybe one month - maybe three weeks is also possible. But musically, both concertos require a lot of time to understand deeply. Three weeks is not enough to express the music properly.

EH: What happened with your development after the Hamamtsu competition?

Cho: Musically speaking, when I was 14, I was not ready yet. I started to have lessons when I was 10, so compared with the others, that’s rather late. And I didn’t have much repertoire at 14 - I hadn’t played many things. The Hamamatsu was held in March 2009, and my Korean teacher asked me to participate because there were lots of great professors like Alessio Bax and Arie Vardi. It was a good experience for me to be there, and musically speaking, from that period on, I really fell in love with the Romantic period of music. I played Liszt and Chopin, and I participated in the Hamamatsu in Novemer 2009. So between March and November, I worked hard on Beethoven and Mozart sonatas, a Beethoven concerto, etc. That year, my musical ability progressed a lot.

EH: The Chopin competition is arguably the most prestigious piano competition in the world. Now that you’ve won it, do you feel any pressure to be more than another Chopin winner who plays Chopin well ?

Cho: At the beginning, yes, I had to play all-Chopin programs because everybody expected it. But I starting in 2018-19, I’ll be playing less Chopin, and finally, next year, in January, I’ll play a recital at Carnegie Hall, and there will be no Chopin. Personally, I feel really happy about this.

The past winners, like Pollini, Argerich and Zimerman, are really great artists. And I thought, they are really just different from me. But now, I feel it’s not pressure, but I have some responsibility. I feel the responsibility, not about career, but about quality, that I really need to work hard to be on a similar level as these artists. Maybe that sounds a little bit not humble, but I really want to play at the level of past winners. I feel that responsibility.

EH: Are you a compulsive practicer ? How many hours do you practice a day right now ?

Cho: I travel quite a lot these days. When I take a train or a plane I just fall asleep (laughs). But I always think about music. Sometimes I get ideas, and I’ll just go to the piano and try it. Music is always in my head.

I can’t practice too much, but I try to do at least three hours, maybe four. But when I get home, I’m often very tired, I need to rest, and so I try three hours.

EH: Op. 10 No. 1 doesn’t seem very difficult for you. Which is the most difficult Chopin Etude for your hand ? How old were you when you played your first Chopin Etude ?

Cho: My first Chopin Etude was Op. 25 No. 2. I was ten, 10-and-a-half, I think. Technically, I can say, the thirds, Op. 25 No. 6 is quite difficult for me, and Op. 10 No. 2. Op. 10 No. 1 is easy for me (laughs).

EH: Do you listen to many piano recordings ? I’ve read that you’re a fan of Radu Lupu.

Cho: When I was a high school student, I bought many recordings. I have a few thousand recordings in my house, and I adore a lot of symphonic and piano music. Radu Lupu was my idol growing up in Korea. The first album of his that I bought was Brahms Klavierstucke 118 & 119. I was really moved by his performances. But still, I really love his music, and he’s one of my favorites.

EH: Your debut DG album went platinum many times in Korea. What can you tell me about the love of classical music in your country, the support you’ve receive ?

Cho: I can say there are many people who really support me, and when I play in Korea, the audience is really enthusiastic. When I play there, every concert is sold-out. I can say I really appreciate it, and I’m actually a bit nervous when I’m in Korea because there’s a kind of expectation. But I do really appreciate it.

EH: Can great performers surpass the vision of the composer ? What is the principal purpose of the performer ?

Cho: Everybody has different opinions, and I respect their opinions. For me, first of all, I think we have to respect and understand the meaning of the music. I recently played for Alfred Brendel, and we were talking about originality. He can express many things. If people listen to his recordings, people know right away that it’s Alfred Brendel. His originality is not eccentric.

I try to understand the meaning of what the composer is trying to say, and the performer has to convey this message. When I play Beethoven’s music, I try to really respect what he wrote in the score. His character is so precise, and he knows what he wants. But when I play Debussy, he’s less precise than Beethoven, or Ravel, too. With some music like the Chopin Mazurkas, there must be freedom of rhythm, which is essential. We shouldn’t play Chopin academically. So the way we play has to depend on the composer. I think Bach can be freer than Beethoven or Schumann, who wrote so many indications, but Mozart or Bach are also freer than Debussy and Chopin.

EH: Is there a relatively little known composer whose works you adore ?

Cho: Cesar Franck, even though he didn’t write so many piano pieces, His pieces are very complex, the harmony changes are surprising, there’s the counterpoint, and he’s a contemporary of Brahms. People in France know about Debussy, Ravel, Berlioz, even Messiaen, but not so much Franck. I also like Janacek. I’d like to play this repertoire in the next few years.

EH: Is there anything about the life or business of being a musician that you would like music conservatories to teach their students ? What have you learned about success, management, travels, and music critics ?

Cho: Actually, I don’t see much of critics. I read critics because friends of managers will send their work to me, but they always send me just the good ones. But when I have some bad reviews, I do read them. I respect their opinions. Sometimes they’re right. I don’t get angry when I have bad reviews. Sometimes, of course I cannot agree with their opinion, and the result is I don’t care so much about the critics or blogs or whatever. But the music business is quite tricky. I started my career just two-and-a-half years ago after the Chopin, and I can say it’s not that simple to build up a career. They book you two or three years in advance, so that is a bit difficult for me. And in terms of repertoire, who to play with, what kind of pieces to record, it’s demanding.

EH: The Pulitzer prize in Music was just awarded to Kendrick Lamar. Historically, the award has always gone to a classical composer or a jazz musician. I’m wondering if you have any thoughts about this, the times we live in, how classical music can survive in a world dominated by pop. Is there such a thing as bad music ?

Cho: I appreciate pop music, even though I don’t know much about it. These days, the number of classical music listeners is reducing. It’s difficult to find ways to survive, to bring in more audiences. But the good news is there are many great young artists who are very serious – pianists like Daniil Trifonov, Igor Levit, Benjamin Grosvenor, Beatrice Rana, etc. The pianists of my generation are very serious musicians. We all play differently, and I respect that. Perhaps we can arouse curiosity in the art form, attract new, greater audiences. I believe there is reason for hope in classical music.

EH: Thank you for taking the time, Seong-Jin.

 Cho: Thank you very much!