Sunwoo Yekwon returns with 'Rachmaninoff, A Reflection'

Music & Performance

Published: 12 Sep. 2023, 14:18 Updated: 15 Sep. 2023, 17:17

Sunwoo Yekwon returns with 'Rachmaninoff, A Reflection'

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “26 Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: III. Andante (Transcr. Volodos for Piano)" for the local press on Tuesday at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei in Seodaemun District, central Seoul. [UNIVERSAL MUSIC KOREA]

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon is returning to the music that he knows best.

The 34-year-old piano maestro’s second album "Rachmaninoff, A Reflection” is freshly out as of noon on Tuesday. It comes three years after his last album, "Mozart" (2020).

“I don’t want the album to cheer people up, per se, but I'd like for it to be there for them, whatever he or she may be going through. I hope it can reach people’s hearts," Sunwoo told local press on Tuesday at Kumho Art Hall in Seodaemun District, central Seoul.

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The setlist is comprised of six pieces including Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “26 Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19: III. Andante (Transcr. Volodos for Piano)" and "1-23 Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42,” as well as Fritz Kreisler’s “24 Liebesleid (Arr. Rachmaninoff for Piano).

Album cover of Sunwoo Yekwon's second album "Rachmaninoff, A Reflection” [UNIVERSAL MUSIC KOREA]

The Russian composer bears a special meaning to Sunwoo because it was Rachmaninoff’s “ “Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30” that won him his gold medal at the 2017 Van Cilburn International Piano Competition. He was the first Korean to bring home the top prize at the prestigious piano competition held in Fort Worth, Texas.

“It was also through Rachmaninoff’s pieces that I first truly learned how to listen to music and express myself musically,” he said. “Today, his pieces warm my body and get my blood flowing.”

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon talks to the local press about his new album "Rachmaninoff, A Reflection” on Tuesday at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei in Seodaemun District, central Seoul. [UNIVERSAL MUSIC KOREA]

The latest album is a retrospective of his career thus far.

“I wanted to include the word ‘reflection’ in the album title because this album is, in some ways, a way for me to look back on myself,” he said. “I also think the album reflects who I am. It’s like a mirror - sometimes you like looking at it, sometimes you don’t.”

He recalled having a particularly difficult time recording the album because he wasn’t in the best physical condition.

“But in the end, you learn,” he said. “So when I think about this album today, it kind of breaks my heart but at the same time, I feel great affection for it.”

Sunwoo recorded the album in June.

“Apart from my physical condition during the recording, I tried to be very close to the music, while also maintaining the ability to look at the music from a distance, for the sake of being able to flexibly express the emotions embedded in the pieces,” he said.

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon talks to the local press about his new album "Rachmaninoff, A Reflection” o n Tuesday at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei in Seodaemun District, central Seoul. [UNIVERSAL MUSIC KOREA]

The pianist will be going on tour to 11 cities nationwide starting on Sept. 23 at Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. He will perform at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul on Oct. 18. Sunwoo is slated to play four pieces: “Chaconne in D minor for the left hand” by J.S. Bach/J. Brahms, “Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826” by Bach, “Variations on a Theme of Corelli Op. 42” by Rachmaninoff and “Variations on a Teheme of Chopin, Op. 22” by Rachmaninoff.

Sunwoo has a record-high number of awards from numerous international competitions, including gold medals from the German Piano Award in 2015, the Vendome Prize at the Vervier Festival in 2014, the Sendai International Music Competition in 2013, The William Kapell Competition in 2012 and the Florida International Piano Festival in 2012.

On the rise of Korean classical musicians in recent years, he said that international judges look positively upon Korean artists who “give their all” to music.

“I think they have a high regard for Korean musicians given how much they sacrifice for their music.”

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]