Myung Whun Chung - Piano

Piano favourites from one of the world's great conductors. Album of the Weekend, 10-11 May 2014.

Myung Whun Chung is one of the world's most in-demand conductors, who has recorded scores of very fine albums from the podium. But for this new release, he takes his seat at the keyboard for his very first recording of solo piano music.

Actually, Chung was originally a pianist. He made his debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at the age of seven. In 1974 he was a prize winner in the Tchaikovsky Competition and then began his career playing piano trios with his sisters, Kyung Wha Chung and Myung Wha Chung.

Recorded at Venice's Teatro La Fenice in July 2013, Chung has dedicated this album to younger listeners and has filled it with familiar, well-loved pieces - Debussy's Clair de lune, two Chopin Nocturnes and a pair of Schubert Impromptus, Beethoven's Für Elise, Schumann's Träumerei and Arabeske, Tchaikovsky, and Mozart. 

The pieces are all beautifully played and arranged in a gently flowing sequence which also serves to highlight affinities between the compositions.