Latest news with #WarnerClassics
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Teen pianist Kim Saehyun to perform at heart of Paris
Winner of The Long-Thibaud International Competition prepares for global spotlight Korean pianist Kim Saehyun turned 18 on March 31. One day before his birthday, he was in Paris, receiving four awards at The Long-Thibaud International Competition — the First Grand Prize, Audience Prize, Press Jury Prize and Paris Prize. According to Warner Classics CEO Alain Lanceron, the jury chose not to award a second prize, citing the clear gap between Kim and the other finalists. Shortly after his win, Kim signed an exclusive recording contract with Warner Classics. His debut album, now in preparation, will feature works by Faure and Chopin. On May 8, to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, Kim performed Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. He is set to return to the French capital on July 14 to perform at Le Concert de Paris, held on the Champ de Mars beneath the Eiffel Tower as part of Bastille Day celebrations. Later this summer, on July 23, Kim will appear at the Festival de La Roque-d'Antheron, one of the world's leading international piano festivals, which brings together celebrated pianists and rising talents from around the globe. At a press conference Thursday, Kim spoke about his affinity for French pieces — a passion shaped by his mentor, Dang Thai Son, one of his teachers at the New England Conservatory, as well as his literary interests. Kim is enrolled in the highly selective Harvard/NEC dual degree program, where he is simultaneously pursuing a bachelor of arts at Harvard College and a master of music at the New England Conservatory. At NEC, he studies under Korean pianist Paik Hae-sun and Dang, both of whom he describes as role models. 'I believe that writing and music are, in the end, both forms of expression. So when an artist explores how their imagination, concept, or idea can take shape and come alive in the real world, I think that's where music and literature both come in. That's why I feel there's a strong connection between the two — they share the same essence at their core. In that sense, I believe studying English literature, even in a small way, helps me as a pianist,' Kim said. And he explained how Goethe's 'Prelude on the Stage' from "Faust," a theatrical dialogue between a poet, a manager, and a comedian, left a lasting impression on him as a musician. As Kim read their exchange — each figure representing a different artistic philosophy — he began to reflect on his own assumptions about performance. Once drawn solely to the poet's uncompromising ideals, he now embraces a broader, more generous view of what art can be and how it should connect with audiences. "I realized that there's no guarantee — nor should there be — that the audience will receive what the artist intends in exactly the same way. And I've come to believe that whatever interpretation or opinion someone brings to a work of art, it's all valid," he added. As a performer, Kim doesn't strive to impress. 'Rather than giving a performance that shocks or dazzles, I find it more meaningful to move even just one or two individuals,' he explained. 'That's why I aim not to impress, but to play in a way that feels like I'm sharing something personal — as a musician, telling my own story to each person in the audience.' 'If you're even slightly trying to show off or impress,' he added, 'you've already stepped away from the ideal. I believe the closer you come to letting go of yourself and serving the music with humility, the closer you get to the kind of performance I aspire to give.' Founded in 1943 by pianist Marguerite Long and violinist Jacques Thibaud, the Long-Thibaud International Competition is held every three years in France. Notable past Korean winners of the piano edition include Lim Dong-hyek (2001) and Lee Hyuk, who shared first prize in 2022.
Kuwait Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
Rufus Wainwright's ‘Dream Requiem' explores catastrophe and redemption
The historic Mount Tambora volcanic eruption spewed so much ash and debris that it triggered a 'year without summer' and the apocalypse seemed nigh - an apt parallel to our own chaotic existence, says the eclectic musician Rufus Wainwright. The artist's ambitious modern-day requiem, which draws inspiration from the 19th-century catastrophe as well as the Requiem Mass, will premiere stateside on Sunday in Los Angeles, with narration by the actor and activist Jane Fonda. The Canadian-American Wainwright composed 'Dream Requiem' as the globe was picking up the pieces after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and turned to Lord Byron's poem 'Darkness' which is centered on the fear and disarray that followed the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption. The artist, best known for his distinct theatrical pop, has focused more on opera in recent years and said the poem is all the more prescient given the looming threat of climate cataclysm, as well as our tumultuous contemporary politics. US-Canadian singer-songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright poses during a photo session at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. 'In this day and age, it's a similar kind of intense sense of doom,' Wainwright told AFP in an interview ahead of the Los Angeles show. 'I think we're a little less misguided than they were back then, but who knows what the future holds?' Wainwright's global premiere of 'Dream Requiem' was at the Auditorium de Radio France in Paris last summer, with Meryl Streep narrating and featuring soprano Anna Prohaska. A recording of the work is available from Warner Classics. Wainwright said Fonda's participation in the upcoming performance with the Los Angeles Master Chorale lends additional intensity to the piece, given her long history of activism and her special emphasis in recent years on climate change. 'She's one of the great heroines,' he said of the storied 87-year-old film star. 'Certainly with what America has been through in the last couple of months, I think it'll be very powerful.' And that the show's US premiere comes mere months after deadly wildfires ravaged parts of Los Angeles adds yet another layer, he said. Soprano Liv Redpath (left) sings while US conductor Grant Gershon (right) directs the LA Master Chorale during a rehearsal of Rifus Wainwright's "Dream Requiem". Wainwright has written two classical operas, set Shakespearean sonnets to song and produced a tribute concert to Judy Garland in addition to releasing a string of pop albums. He has a particular penchant for Giuseppe Verdi: 'When I was 13, I listened to Verdi's Requiem from top to tail, and it was like I'd been infected by a virus,' he said. Musical settings of the Catholic Requiem Mass are themselves known as requiems; Verdi's tells of the death-fearing living who seek deliverance. 'I've always been more at ease, you know, communicating dread and foreboding,' the 51-year-old Wainwright said. But it's not all gloom, he added: 'A few weeks after I premiered it, and I had some distance from it, I realized, oh no, there is hope. There is sort of this little glimmer of life.' — AFP 'Redemption and forgiveness' go hand in hand with the dread, and 'I like to maintain some modicum of hope,' Wainwright said. 'Hopefully this is sort of like a resurrection, shall we say, of both that feeling of dread -- but also that need to face the music and deal with the problem at hand.'--AFP
Malay Mail
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Rufus Wainwright's ‘Dream Requiem' turns climate doom into cathartic beauty, with Jane Fonda as voice of reckoning
NEW YORK, May 5 — The historic Mount Tambora volcanic eruption spewed so much ash and debris that it triggered a 'year without summer' and the apocalypse seemed nigh — an apt parallel to our own chaotic existence, says the eclectic musician Rufus Wainwright. The artist's ambitious modern-day requiem, which draws inspiration from the 19th-century catastrophe as well as the Requiem Mass, will premiere stateside on Sunday in Los Angeles, with narration by the actor and activist Jane Fonda. The Canadian-American Wainwright composed Dream Requiem as the globe was picking up the pieces after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and turned to Lord Byron's poem Darkness which is centred on the fear and disarray that followed the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption. The artist, best known for his distinct theatrical pop, has focused more on opera in recent years and said the poem is all the more prescient given the looming threat of climate cataclysm, as well as our tumultuous contemporary politics. 'In this day and age, it's a similar kind of intense sense of doom,' Wainwright told AFP in an interview ahead of the Los Angeles show. 'I think we're a little less misguided than they were back then, but who knows what the future holds?' Wainwright's global premiere of Dream Requiem was at the Auditorium de Radio France in Paris last summer, with Meryl Streep narrating and featuring soprano Anna Prohaska. A recording of the work is available from Warner Classics. Wainwright said Fonda's participation in the upcoming performance with the Los Angeles Master Chorale lends additional intensity to the piece, given her long history of activism and her special emphasis in recent years on climate change. 'She's one of the great heroines,' he said of the storied 87-year-old film star. 'Certainly with what America has been through in the last couple of months, I think it'll be very powerful.' And that the show's US premiere comes mere months after deadly wildfires ravaged parts of Los Angeles adds yet another layer, he said. 'Glimmer of life' Wainwright has written two classical operas, set Shakespearean sonnets to song and produced a tribute concert to Judy Garland in addition to releasing a string of pop albums. He has a particular penchant for Giuseppe Verdi: 'When I was 13, I listened to Verdi's Requiem from top to tail, and it was like I'd been infected by a virus,' he said. Musical settings of the Catholic Requiem Mass are themselves known as requiems; Verdi's tells of the death-fearing living who seek deliverance. 'I've always been more at ease, you know, communicating dread and foreboding,' the 51-year-old Wainwright said. But it's not all gloom, he added: 'A few weeks after I premiered it, and I had some distance from it, I realised, oh no, there is hope. There is sort of this little glimmer of life.' 'Redemption and forgiveness' go hand in hand with the dread, and 'I like to maintain some modicum of hope,' Wainwright said. 'Hopefully this is sort of like a resurrection, shall we say, of both that feeling of dread — but also that need to face the music and deal with the problem at hand.' — AFP
eNCA
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- eNCA
Rufus Wainwright's 'Dream Requiem' explores catastrophe and redemption
LOS ANGELES - The historic Mount Tambora volcanic eruption spewed so much ash and debris that it triggered a "year without summer" and the apocalypse seemed nigh -- an apt parallel to our own chaotic existence, says the eclectic musician Rufus Wainwright. The artist's ambitious modern-day requiem, which draws inspiration from the 19th-century catastrophe as well as the Requiem Mass, will premiere stateside on Sunday in Los Angeles, with narration by the actor and activist Jane Fonda. The Canadian-American Wainwright composed "Dream Requiem" as the globe was picking up the pieces after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and turned to Lord Byron's poem "Darkness" which is centred on the fear and disarray that followed the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption. The artist, best known for his distinct theatrical pop, has focused more on opera in recent years and said the poem is all the more prescient given the looming threat of climate cataclysm, as well as our tumultuous contemporary politics. "In this day and age, it's a similar kind of intense sense of doom," Wainwright told AFP in an interview ahead of the Los Angeles show. "I think we're a little less misguided than they were back then, but who knows what the future holds?" Wainwright's global premiere of "Dream Requiem" was at the Auditorium de Radio France in Paris last summer, with Meryl Streep narrating and featuring soprano Anna Prohaska. A recording of the work is available from Warner Classics. Wainwright said Fonda's participation in the upcoming performance with the Los Angeles Master Chorale lends additional intensity to the piece, given her long history of activism and her special emphasis in recent years on climate change.
France 24
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Rufus Wainwright's 'Dream Requiem' explores catastrophe and redemption
The artist's ambitious modern-day requiem, which draws inspiration from the 19th-century catastrophe as well as the Requiem Mass, will premiere stateside on Sunday in Los Angeles, with narration by the actor and activist Jane Fonda. The Canadian-American Wainwright composed "Dream Requiem" as the globe was picking up the pieces after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and turned to Lord Byron's poem "Darkness" which is centered on the fear and disarray that followed the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption. The artist, best known for his distinct theatrical pop, has focused more on opera in recent years and said the poem is all the more prescient given the looming threat of climate cataclysm, as well as our tumultuous contemporary politics. "In this day and age, it's a similar kind of intense sense of doom," Wainwright told AFP in an interview ahead of the Los Angeles show. "I think we're a little less misguided than they were back then, but who knows what the future holds?" Wainwright's global premiere of "Dream Requiem" was at the Auditorium de Radio France in Paris last summer, with Meryl Streep narrating and featuring soprano Anna Prohaska. A recording of the work is available from Warner Classics. Wainwright said Fonda's participation in the upcoming performance with the Los Angeles Master Chorale lends additional intensity to the piece, given her long history of activism and her special emphasis in recent years on climate change. "She's one of the great heroines," he said of the storied 87-year-old film star. "Certainly with what America has been through in the last couple of months, I think it'll be very powerful." And that the show's US premiere comes mere months after deadly wildfires ravaged parts of Los Angeles adds yet another layer, he said. 'Glimmer of life' Wainwright has written two classical operas, set Shakespearean sonnets to song and produced a tribute concert to Judy Garland in addition to releasing a string of pop albums. He has a particular penchant for Giuseppe Verdi: "When I was 13, I listened to Verdi's Requiem from top to tail, and it was like I'd been infected by a virus," he said. Musical settings of the Catholic Requiem Mass are themselves known as requiems; Verdi's tells of the death-fearing living who seek deliverance. "I've always been more at ease, you know, communicating dread and foreboding," the 51-year-old Wainwright said. But it's not all gloom, he added: "A few weeks after I premiered it, and I had some distance from it, I realized, oh no, there is hope. There is sort of this little glimmer of life." "Redemption and forgiveness" go hand in hand with the dread, and "I like to maintain some modicum of hope," Wainwright said. "Hopefully this is sort of like a resurrection, shall we say, of both that feeling of dread -- but also that need to face the music and deal with the problem at hand."
