Young-Choon Park

Young-Choon Park 

 

HAYDN 

Sonata in D Major Hob.XV1:37

1. Allegro con brio

2. Largo e sostenuto

3. Presto ma non troppo

SCHUBERT 

Sonata No.19 in C minor D.958

1. Allegro

2. Adagio

3. Menuetto (Allegro)

4. Allegro

 

INTERVAL

 

BEETHOVEN

Sonata No.7 in D major op.10 No.3

1. Presto

2. Largo e mesto

3. Minuet: Allegro

4. Rondo: Allegro

Sonata No.8 in C minor op.13 “Pathétique”

1. Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio

2. Adagio cantabile

3. Rondo:Allegro

 

Sparkling and brilliant, the accomplished pianist Young-Choon Park will give us a wonderful recital of sonatas by Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven. She starts with a typically joyful work by Haydn, written for two sisters who were star pianists at the time. The outer movements are full of characteristic fun, while the central one is more serious. A masterwork of classical form resides beneath the playful appearance. Next, Young-Choon presents the first of the three late great piano sonatas by Schubert, in C minor. This work has grandeur and eloquence; beneath the flurries of notes in its four movements, there is a typical mix of the stormy with the lyrical, and of the delicate with the passionate, all encompassed in a blaze of tonal colours that couldn’t be by anyone else. You will be swept along with the dance.

She continues with two contrasting Beethoven Sonatas. The early Op 10 #3 shows his inventiveness and skill, as he presented himself to the public. The energetic and jaunty first movement gives way to a profound sadness in the second, an early example of one of his hallmark styles; the minuet that follows is cheerful enough, before the concluding rondo brighten us up, with its teasing question and answer phrasing, and ending with a seemingly peaceful conclusion. The famous Pathétique Sonata, although the next in number, represents a shift in Beethoven’s approach, reflecting his transition from pianist-composer to full-time composer, his move to a more overtly Romantic style, and it finds him in C minor mode – a key that drew upon a very particular mood, perhaps evoked by the title that was given to the work. It opens with a Grave introduction that is more of a motto theme, from which most of the rest is elaborated, with innovative key shifts. Here the central movement, which has a song-like quality, provides a brief space of calm and peace. The final rondo revisits much of the material of the first, but in a different way. These two contrasting sonatas offer considerable insights into the emergence of the composer’s unique voice.

 

South Korean-born pianist Young-Choon Park began the study of the piano at the age of four and gave her first full recital when she was seven. She played the Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1 with the Seoul Symphony Orchestra at the age of nine.

The child prodigy studied at the Juilliard School in New York and later gained the highest masters degree at the Hochschule in Munich.

She has toured extensively, giving over 50 concerts each year in Europe, Scandinavia, South Africa and the United States. She makes many return visits to major concert venues including the Birmingham Symphony Hall, St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, Belfast Waterfront Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Lincoln Centre in New York, de Doelen in Rotterdam, Frits Philips Saal in Eindhoven, Athenaeum Hall in Bucharest, Tivoli Koncertsalen in Copenhagen, Gasteig in Munich, Musikverein in Vienna and the Troldhaugen in Bergen.

International Music Festivals appearances have included the Piano Festival aux Jacobins de Toulouse; the Choregies d’Orange; Piano à Riom; Les Flaneries Musical de Reims; Haydn Festival in the Esterhazy Palace at Eisenstadt; the Festwochen Gmunden; the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival; Hohenloher Kultursommer; Kultur Sommer Nordhessen; Cesky Krumlov Festival; Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival; Flanders Festival; St Olav Festival; Estoril Festival; Varna Festival; Aarhus Festival; Festival Wiltz Luxembourg; Cork Midsummer Festival and in the UK at Bath, Salisbury, Brighton, Canterbury, Chelmsford, Bury St Edmunds, Chelsea, Henley-on-Thames, Harrogate, Chichester, Swansea, Guildford, Arundel and City of London.

Young-Choon Park has broadcast for radio and television in many countries and is currently recording the complete Mozart piano concertos for Duchesne World Records in Belgium.

She has performed with many leading orchestras including the Stuttgart Philharmonic, Halle State Philharmonic, KZN Philharmonic, Hungarian State Opera, Lithuanian National Symphony, National Philharmonic of Belarus, Sofia Philharmonic, Filarmonica George Enescu, Baden-Badener Philharmonie, Filharmonia Lubelska, Slovak Philharmonic, Weiner Mozart, Karlovy Vary Symphony, Filharmonica Poznańska and the Warsaw Sinfonia.

 

“…the piano technique was dazzling with its insatiable strength and energy, her technical skill and accuracy were shown to be irreproachable…”

La Libre Belgique

“…individually refreshing, while demonstrating real passion and style as well as outstanding technical proficiency…”

Sunday Times

“…seductive clarity without falling into dryness or pedantry – not only power, fire and passion but also proportions and form…”

Suddeutsch Zeitung

“…her technical ability is beyond dispute, as is her pleasant touch and her ability to make the tone sing. Young-Choon Park – a name to remember…”

Arnhemse Courant