Beethoven's 'Choral' Resonates Again: Joy Fills a Summer Night in Busan
Creatrip Team
24 days ago
On July 2, conductor Myung-Whun Chung (from Busan) led the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at the Busan Concert Hall's first anniversary concert, a program that had sold out. Returning to the work he played at the hall's opening a year earlier, Chung delivered a restrained yet persuasive reading of the monumental piece. The performance traced the symphony’s emotional arc: a quietly determined first movement, a lively second highlighted by bold timpani, a reflective third with poignant pizzicato (pizzicato: plucking technique on string instruments), and the triumphant fourth — the 'Ode to Joy' — featuring soloists (soprano Lee Hye-ji, mezzo Yang Song-mi, tenor Kim Jeong-hoon, baritone Park Joo-sung) and about 90 choristers from Busan and Ulsan city choirs. Chung’s controlled gestures and the balanced ensemble achieved a moving culmination, proving Beethoven’s choral masterpiece can still inspire profound joy even on a midsummer night.
