Chopin Competition Winner Eric Lu Delivers Pure Lyricism with KBS Symphony
Creatrip Team
3 months ago
At the KBS Symphony Orchestra’s 820th concert on Nov. 21 at Seoul’s Lotte Concert Hall, 27-year-old Chinese-American pianist Eric Lu — fresh from winning the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition — performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 under veteran American conductor Leonard Slatkin. Lu offered a calm, balanced interpretation, especially expressive in the second movement’s tender, pastoral lines, and encorered with Bach’s Goldberg Variations aria. The program also featured the Korean premiere of Cindy McTee’s orchestral work “Circulation,” dedicated to Slatkin, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11 “1905,” a powerful piece inspired by the Bloody Sunday massacre. The orchestra’s dynamic contrasts, vivid percussion and Slatkin’s crisp conducting drew strong audience response; the concert concluded without an additional encore. (Chopin Competition: a prestigious international piano competition held every five years)
