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.
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.
In their first visit to the US in over a decade, the Seoul Philharmonicdisplay their abundant skills in a crowd-pleasing program pairing two concert staples with an impressive American premiere.
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.
Ted Ayala is a writer and musicologist born and raised in Los Angeles. Aside from classical music he loves literature (especially from Latin America and Japan), learning languages, reading about history, video games from the 1980s-1990s, and cats. You can follow his blog here.
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