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SangKwon Lee

SangKwon Lee

SangKwon Lee is a Seoul-based classical music critic whose writing focuses on concert performances and recordings. A contributor to Gramophone and a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, he covers the classical music scene in Korea and internationally.

Author:SangKwon Lee

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Bruce Liu, Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © KBS Symphony Orchestra

Motion finds weight: Orozco-Estrada, Bruce Liu and the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 18 June 2026

Vivid, full-bodied Tchaikovsky, passionate without losing its grammar, on a persuasive night for the KBS Symphony Orchestra.

****1

Bruce Liu, Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © KBS Symphony Orchestra

Orozco-Estrada, Bruce Liu and the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Sunhae Im and Yunchan Lim © Shin-joong Kim | MOC

One moon, three waters: Yunchan Lim’s Mozart with Camerata Salzburg

By SangKwon Lee, 15 June 2026

A pair of piano concertos envelop a concert aria as Yunchan Lim opens his Mozart project with poise and nerve in Seoul.

*****

Sunhae Im and Yunchan Lim © Shin-joong Kim | MOC

One moon, three waters: Yunchan Lim’s Mozart with Camerata Salzburg

By SangKwon Lee

Lahav Shani conducts the Munich Philharmonic © Vincero | Won Hee Lee

Spacious Prokofiev from Seong-Jin Cho and the Munich Philharmonic in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 06 May 2026

Seong-Jin Cho’s premise in Prokofiev is compelling – to reconcile Russian gravitational attack and monumental construction with clarity, colour and contrapuntal legibility.

***11

Lahav Shani conducts the Munich Philharmonic © Vincero | Won Hee Lee

Spacious Prokofiev from Seong-Jin Cho and the Munich Philharmonic

By SangKwon Lee

Yeol Eum Son, Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra © Hankyung Media Group

Warmth as consequence: Oramo, Yeol Eum Son and the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 26 March 2026

Yeol Eum Son’s Britten Piano Concerto formed the evening’s centre of gravity, played with lucid line, structural command and sudden fire. In Brahms’ Second Symphony, Sakari Oramo found conviction, proportion and a warmth that felt earned rather than applied.

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Yeol Eum Son, Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra © Hankyung Media Group

Sakari Oramo, Yeol Eum Son and the BBC Symphony in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra © Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Jaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic’s measured Mahler 6

By SangKwon Lee, 19 March 2026

That last movement proves the evening’s true point of reckoning in the Seoul Philharmonic's performance of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony at Lotte Concert Hall.

****1

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra © Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Jaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic’s measured Mahler 6

By SangKwon Lee

Nikolai Lugansky and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra © Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Rhetoric over romance in Nikolai Lugansky's Chopin with the Seoul Philharmonic

By SangKwon Lee, 12 February 2026

Ludovic Morlot conducts the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in three classics from the Romantic era: Berlioz, Chopin and Schumann.

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Nikolai Lugansky and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra © Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Rhetoric over romance in Nikolai Lugansky's Chopin in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Yunchan Lim, Myung-whun Chung and the Staatskapelle Dresden © Vincero | Won Hee Lee

Schumann from the inside out: Yunchan Lim and the Staatskapelle Dresden in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 01 February 2026

Yunchan Lim seldom seeks the spotlight in a reflective, conversational account of Schumann's Piano Concerto, conducted by Myung-whun Chung.

*****

Yunchan Lim, Myung-whun Chung and the Staatskapelle Dresden © Vincero | Won Hee Lee

Schumann from the inside out: Yunchan Lim and Staatskapelle Dresden

By SangKwon Lee

Myung-whun Chung and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © Courtesy of the KBS Symphony Orchestra

Myung‑whun Chung launches a new KBS Symphony chapter in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 16 January 2026

In Myung-whun Chung’s first concert as the orchestra’s tenth Music Director, Leonidas Kavakos’ account of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is built on exposure rather than varnish.

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Myung-whun Chung and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © Courtesy of the KBS Symphony Orchestra

Myung‑whun Chung launches a new KBS Symphony chapter in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Sunwook Kim © Marco Borggreve

Breath, harmony, articulation: Sunwook Kim plays Beethoven’s First in Paris

By SangKwon Lee, 09 January 2026

Ahead of performances with Insula orchestra in February, the South Korean pianist talks about taking inspiration from Beethoven’s harmony, early pianos, and making musical choices that are maximally persuasive.

Sunwook Kim © Marco Borggreve

Breath and articulation: Sunwook Kim plays Beethoven in Paris

By SangKwon Lee

Sunyoung Seo, A-kyeong Lee, Wookyung Kim and Kihwan Sim © Seoul Philharmonic

Drawn from the cask too soon: Jaap van Zweden tests Beethoven 9 in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 18 December 2025

At the Seoul Arts Center, Jaap van Zweden treats Beethoven’s disputed metronome marks less as provocation than instruction, trading bloom for voltage in a driven Beethoven Ninth Symphony.

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Sunyoung Seo, A-kyeong Lee, Wookyung Kim and Kihwan Sim © Seoul Philharmonic

Jaap van Zweden tests Beethoven 9 in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Yunchan Lim and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia © Won Hee Lee, courtesy of Vincero

Winter light and vintage grain: Yunchan Lim and Daniel Harding in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 04 December 2025

Daniel Harding and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia choose proportion over spectacle as their Asian tour reaches Seoul.

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Yunchan Lim and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia © Won Hee Lee, courtesy of Vincero

Yunchan Lim, Daniel Harding and the Santa Cecilia in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Christian Thielemann conducts the Vienna Philharmonic © Hankyung Media Group

Precision as grandeur: Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic’s Bruckner 5 in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 20 November 2025

A tightly focused and cohesive Bruckner Fifth Symphony at the Seoul Arts Center as Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic continue their Asian tour in compelling fashion.

*****

Christian Thielemann conducts the Vienna Philharmonic © Hankyung Media Group

Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic’s Bruckner 5 in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Sunwook Kim, Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker © Won Hee Lee, courtesy of Vincero

From heartbeat to detonation: Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 09 November 2025

On their Asian tour, the Berliner Philharmoniker reaffirms its renown in a concert of Schumann and Brahms at the Seoul Arts Center.

*****

Sunwook Kim, Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker © Won Hee Lee, courtesy of Vincero

Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Jaemin Han, Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic © InArts Production

Breadth and structure: Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic master Lotte Concert Hall

By SangKwon Lee, 29 October 2025

In a notoriously tricky acoustic, the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov make the Lotte Concert hall feel like theirs in a programme of Dvořák and Tchaikovsky.

*****

Jaemin Han, Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic © InArts Production

Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic master Lotte Concert Hall

By SangKwon Lee

Yekwon Sunwoo and the Hong Kong Philharmonic © Seoul Arts Center

Precision and poise from Lio Kuokman and the Hong Kong Philharmonic in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 19 October 2025

Two contemporary works pave the way for a big Tchaikovsky pairing at the Seoul Arts Center, with Yekwon Sunwoo joining the Hong Kong Philharmonic for the First Piano Concerto.

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Yekwon Sunwoo and the Hong Kong Philharmonic © Seoul Arts Center

Hong Kong Philharmonic offer precision and poise in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Jaap van Zweden conducts the Seoul Philharmonic © Seoul Philharmonic

Jaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic prepare for their US tour

By SangKwon Lee, 01 October 2025

The Seoul Philharmonic preview their forthcoming US-tour programme, featuring Bomsori Kim playing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.

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Jaap van Zweden conducts the Seoul Philharmonic © Seoul Philharmonic

Jaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic prepare for their US tour

By SangKwon Lee

Bomsori © Bartek Barczek | Deutsche Grammophon

From the first bar: Bomsori journeys with Seoul Philharmonic to Carnegie Hall

By SangKwon Lee, 01 October 2025

The Korean violinist talks about making her debut with the Seoul Philharmonic, and heading to the US on a tour which includes the orchestra’s first Carnegie Hall appearance for 18 years.

Bomsori © Bartek Barczek | Deutsche Grammophon

From the first bar: Bomsori journeys with Seoul Philharmonic

By SangKwon Lee

Jaehong Park, Zaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra © Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Line, rhythm and spectrum: Jaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic in the present tense

By SangKwon Lee, 26 September 2025

As a pre‑tour snapshot, this concert proves was unambiguous: an orchestra intent on renewing the canon in the language of now rather than sealing it behind glass.

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Jaehong Park, Zaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra © Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Line, rhythm and spectrum: Jaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic

By SangKwon Lee

Finalists of Kobe International Flute Competition © Kobe International Flute Competition

A city that listens: report from 11th Kobe International Flute Competition

By SangKwon Lee, 22 September 2025

The prestigious flute competition returned this year, with over 350 applicants from around the world, this competition is a true civic occasion, with music-making embraced by the wider city of Kobe.

Finalists of Kobe International Flute Competition © Kobe International Flute Competition

A city that listens: 11th Kobe International Flute Competition

By SangKwon Lee

María Dueñas and the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo © NHKSO

One unbroken sentence: María Dueñas lets Beethoven breathe at Suntory Hall

By SangKwon Lee, 19 September 2025

María Dueñas’ Tokyo performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto is less about display than about the living drama between held breath and release.

*****

María Dueñas and the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo © NHKSO

María Dueñas lets Beethoven breathe at Suntory Hall

By SangKwon Lee

Mao Fujita and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © Lee Sang-hoon, courtesy of the KBS Symphony Orchestra

Clarity as drama: Mao Fujita’s Mozart and Myung‑whun Chung’s Fantastique

By SangKwon Lee, 29 August 2025

An evening at the Seoul Arts Center in which clarity matters as much as volume and the most telling virtuosity comes from a refusal to grandstand.

****1

Mao Fujita and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © Lee Sang-hoon, courtesy of the KBS Symphony Orchestra

Mao Fujita’s Mozart and Myung‑whun Chung’s Fantastique in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Lawrence Renes and the Seoul Arts Center Festival Orchestra © Seoul Arts Center

At Seoul Arts Center: Renes’ obscured Mahler 1 after Lisiecki’s lucid Beethoven 3

By SangKwon Lee, 10 August 2025

After Jan Lisiecki clarifies the architecture of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, Renes' Mahler felt like a letter written in the dark.

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Lawrence Renes and the Seoul Arts Center Festival Orchestra © Seoul Arts Center

Seoul Arts Center: Renes and Lisiecki play Beethoven and Mahler

By SangKwon Lee

Myung-whun Chung conducts China National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra © Niu Xiaobei

Breaking the shell: China NCPA Orchestra embarks on first European tour

By SangKwon Lee, 01 August 2025

This summer, Myung-whun Chung leads one of Asia’s leading orchestras on its first ever tour through Europe, with an energetic programme featuring young piano soloist Bruce Liu.

Myung-whun Chung conducts China National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra © Niu Xiaobei

Breaking the shell: China NCPA Orchestra’s first European tour

By SangKwon Lee

Markus Stenz and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © KBS Symphony Orchestra

Markus Stenz conducts three monumental 20th-century scores in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 18 July 2025

Propulsive Prokofiev from pianist Dmitry Shishkin between Ravel’s hypnotic minimalism and Schoenberg’s late-Romantic complexity.

****1

Markus Stenz and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © KBS Symphony Orchestra

Markus Stenz conducts three monumental 20th-century scores in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Jonathan Nott conducts the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande © Lotte Concert Hall

Nott shapes a visceral arc with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 06 July 2025

Fragmentation to ritual: this was no Rite of Spring of two halves but a single, vast architectural crescendo.

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Jonathan Nott conducts the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande © Lotte Concert Hall

Nott shapes a visceral arc with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

By SangKwon Lee

Augustin Hadelich, Jaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic © Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Sculpted silences: Britten and Brahms under Jaap van Zweden in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 20 June 2025

From the very first bars of Britten’s Violin Concerto, Augustin Hadelich impresses in Britten's Violin Concerto, yet Jaap van Zweden's Brahms 4 appears misaligned.

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Augustin Hadelich, Jaap van Zweden and the Seoul Philharmonic © Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Sculpted silences: Britten and Brahms under Jaap van Zweden in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Yunchan Lim and the Orchestre de Paris © Vincero

Rach 4 redefined: Klaus Mäkelä and Yunchan Lim set a new benchmark at Seoul Arts Center

By SangKwon Lee, 11 June 2025

In Yunchan Lim’s hands the score to Rachmaninov's Fourth Piano Concerto emerges as a small revelation, conspicuously succeeding where so many others have floundered.

*****

Yunchan Lim and the Orchestre de Paris © Vincero

Rach 4 redefined: Mäkelä and Yunchan Lim set a new benchmark in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Bomsori Kim and the Bamberg Symphony © Vincero

Fairy sparks to symphonic blaze: Hrůša and the Bamberg Symphony with Bomsori Kim in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 01 June 2025

Tradition reborn with thrilling clarity: Jakub Hrůša’s Bambergers light up Seoul: Wagner’s shimmering overture, Bomsori Kim’s impassioned Bruch, and a lucid yet explosive Beethoven Seventh.

****1

Bomsori Kim and the Bamberg Symphony © Vincero

Hrůša and the Bamberg Symphony with Bomsori Kim in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Andres Orozco-Estrada, Leila Josefowicz and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © Bachtrack Ltd | Sangkwon Lee

A night of bold strokes: Orozco-Estrada and Josefowicz light up Seoul Arts Center

By SangKwon Lee, 22 May 2025

By the close of the performance, one sensed that the audience’s exhilaration stemmed less from polished execution and more from a shared immersion in the music’s dramatic arc—elements that lingered as the defining memory of this eventful evening.

****1

Andres Orozco-Estrada, Leila Josefowicz and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © Bachtrack Ltd | Sangkwon Lee

A night of bold strokes: Orozco-Estrada and Josefowicz in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Vladimir Jurowski conducts the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra © Won Hee Lee

Vibrant Brahms from Vladimir Jurowski, Ray Chen and the Berlin Radio Symphony in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 03 May 2025

At the Seoul Arts Center, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra achieves a luminous balance of historically informed insight and modern orchestral splendour, delivering performances that feel at once deeply rooted and thrillingly alive.

****1

Vladimir Jurowski conducts the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra © Won Hee Lee

Vibrant Brahms from Jurowski, Chen and the Berlin RSO in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Alexandre Kantorow, Cristian Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France © Hankyung Media Group

Saint-Saëns illuminated: Măcelaru, Kantorow, and the Orchestre National de France in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 29 April 2025

A sumptuous exploration of Saint-Saëns at Lotte Concert Hall in a programme forming a cohesive tapestry woven from the composer’s fascination with colour, all traced back to a distinctly Parisian sensibility.

****1

Alexandre Kantorow, Cristian Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France © Hankyung Media Group

Saint-Saëns illuminated by the Orchestre National de France in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee

Yunchan Lim © Shin-joong Kim | MOC

Rescaling Bach: Yunchan Lim’s modern vision of the Goldberg Variations

By SangKwon Lee, 24 March 2025

The subtle interplay of colours – rather than uniform perfection – distinguishes Lim’s performance of the Goldbergs at the Goyang Arts Center.

*****

Yunchan Lim © Shin-joong Kim | MOC

Rescaling Bach: Yunchan Lim’s modern vision of the Goldbergs

By SangKwon Lee

Myung-whun Chung © Courtesy of KBS Symphony Orchestra

Unity in Sound: Myung-whun Chung leads KBS and Tokyo Phil through a triumphant Mahler 1

By SangKwon Lee, 03 March 2025

Like the grainy intensity of a high-contrast black-and-white photograph, these rugged edges accentuated Mahler’s expressive extremes, reaffirming the conductor’s innate flair for crafting a grand aesthetic narrative within the symphony’s expansive architecture.

****1

Myung-whun Chung © Courtesy of KBS Symphony Orchestra

Unity in Sound: Myung-whun Chung leads KBS and Tokyo Phil in Mahler 1

By SangKwon Lee

Myung-whun Chung and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © Lee Sang-hoon, courtesy of the KBS Symphony Orchestra

Redemptive Mahler 2 from Myung-whun Chung and the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee, 21 February 2025

Myung-whun Chung and the KBS Symphony Orchestra tackle Mahler’s monumental Resurrection Symphony at the Seoul Arts Center.

***11

Myung-whun Chung and the KBS Symphony Orchestra © Lee Sang-hoon, courtesy of the KBS Symphony Orchestra

Redemptive Mahler 2 from Myung-whun Chung in Seoul

By SangKwon Lee