Few instruments expose a performer's breathing as directly as the oboe. Beyond its lyrical surface, the instrument reveals tension, solitude, pressure, and fragile control through every phrase. Ham Kyung's upcoming recital becomes a space where those qualities rise closest to the stage. The internationally acclaimed oboist will return to Korean audiences on May 30 at IBK Chamber Hall of Seoul Arts Center, presenting a program that places the chamber-music relationship between oboe and piano at its center.
The recital opens with Ruth Gipps' Oboe Sonata No. 2, Op.66, followed by Witold Lutosławski's Epitaph for Oboe and Piano and Nikolai Platonov's Sonata for Oboe and Piano. Gipps' sonata unfolds through Andante Doloroso, Adagio, and Allegro Moderato, balancing restrained suffering, stillness, and propulsion while revealing the oboe's sharply defined tonal color. Lutosławski's compact Epitaph condenses modernist tension into a brief but concentrated structure, while Platonov's sonata closes the recital's first half by emphasizing the emotional weight shared between oboe and piano.
After intermission, the program shifts toward works shaped by classical balance and contemporary energy. Hans Gál's Sonata for Oboe and Piano, Op.85 moves through restrained lyricism and structural clarity across its three movements, while Daniel Schnyder's Sonata for Oboe and Piano drives the recital toward sharper momentum and rhythmic force. Together, the program stretches from lyrical French color to modernist solitude and contemporary tension, presenting the oboe repertoire as a landscape shaped by breath itself.
Ham Kyung's career has unfolded at the center of the global classical scene since adolescence. At just fifteen, he entered the Trossingen University of Music in Germany before continuing his studies at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin. At age twenty, he joined the audition process for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's Karajan Academy, drawing attention at an unusually young age. In 2017, he received a shared second prize and the Audience Award at the prestigious ARD International Music Competition in Munich, firmly establishing his name internationally. At twenty-three, he was appointed to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and later performed at venues including Carnegie Hall and Suntory Hall. He currently resides in Helsinki, serving as principal oboist of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and as a faculty member at the Sibelius Academy.
The recital also highlights his partnership with pianist Christopher Feldig, a Danish pianist widely recognized for his interpretations of Olivier Messiaen. Feldig's recordings were selected as Danish Radio P2's Album of the Year in 2023, and he currently serves as artistic director of the Fejø Festival. Together, Ham Kyung and Feldig are expected to present a recital defined not simply by virtuosity, but by the exposed breathing, tension, and intimacy at the heart of chamber music.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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