Jakub Hrůša
Jakub Hrůša | Picture: Marian Lenhard
Seong-Jin Cho sits on a bench in the Philharmonie Berlin
Seong-Jin Cho | Picture: Stefan Höderath

    Concert information

    Artist in Residence


    Info

    Aleady as a child, artist in Residence Seong-Jin Cho was impressed by “the brilliant and dramatic expression” of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5. His view has since evolved, he says: “This music is not only fiery, but also lyrical, deep and broad”. He will perform the work with Jakub Hrůša, chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. The Concerto for Orchestra, which shifts between melancholy and joie de vivre, is also one of Béla Bartók’s most popular works. Leoš Janáček’s folk suite from the opera Osud (Fate), on the other hand, is a rarely performed.


    Artists

    Berliner Philharmoniker
    Jakub Hrůša conductor
    Seong-Jin Cho piano


    Programme

    Leoš Janáček
    Osud.

    Ludwig van Beethoven
    Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E flat major, op. 73

    Seong-Jin Cho piano

    Interval

    Béla Bartók
    Concerto for Orchestra, Sz 116



    Main Auditorium

    26 to 82 €

    Introduction
    19:15

    Series H: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker


    Main Auditorium

    26 to 82 €

    Introduction
    19:15

    Series E: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker


    Main Auditorium

    26 to 82 €

    Introduction
    18:15

    Series F: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker

    Artist in Residence Seong-Jin Cho
    in conversation

    Find out when microphones make Seong-Jin Cho nervous, that a pianist’s work never ends, and why the sound of the piano cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence.


    Biographies

    Jakub Hrůša

    Jakub Hrůša is regarded as a specialist in the music of his Czech homeland. As such, he has also appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker since his debut in 2018: his profound and expressive interpretations of works by Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů and Kabeláč are inspiring and moving. As the conductor once said, Czech music only makes up a third of his repertoire. At one of his last appearances with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the audience was able to get to know another side of Hrůša – as the conductor of the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s Keyframes for a Hippogriff and Anton Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony.

    Born in Brno and educated at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts, Jakub Hrůša is one of the leading conductors of his generation. He began his career as artistic director of the Prague Philharmonia before becoming chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in 2016. In addition, the pupil of Jiří Bělohlávek will become Music Director of the Royal Opera in London from the 2025/26 season and, in addition to his numerous international engagements, will also serve as Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. His secret? As a conductor, you have to be prepared to use “your instincts, your gut feeling and your heart” in concert.


    Seong-Jin Cho

    In October 2015, the Korean pianist won first prize at the 17th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw – and his live recording made it to number one in the pop charts with over three million albums sold. With an unmistakable touch, poetic and grippingly virtuoso interpretations and his own unique sound. Seong-Jin Cho sees his main task as “understanding the composer, his music, his language and his emotions better and better”, which is why he is constantly developing his interpretations. This is the “most fascinating part of being a musician, everything is a lifelong journey in which I find my own interpretation and my own voice”.

    Seong-Jin Cho, who gave his first public concert at the age of eleven and studied with Michel Béroff at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, made his acclaimed debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2017. In the same year, he toured Asia with the orchestra and Simon Rattle as a stand-in for Lang Lang, followed by the next joint concert tour to South Korea and Japan under Kirill Petrenko in 2023. This season, the “poet at the piano” (Simon Rattle) presents the most diverse facets of his skills as Artist in Residence in concerts with the orchestra and in various chamber music ensembles.