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Seong-Jin Cho discusses new Mozart recording with New York's WKCR

Interview with WKCR's Simon Cohen

Seong-Jin Cho recently released his first Mozart recording, Piano Concerto No. 20 & Sonatas, on Deutsche Grammophon, boasting a dynamic interpretation of one of the composer's most powerful and dramatic piano concertos. The Korean pianist was fortunate that his earliest memories of Mozart were fixed by his parents' recordings of two of the composer's greatest operas: The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. They opened the young musician's heart to the limitless compassion of Mozart's music, which continues to resonate with Cho. "When I play, I try to play with my heart, sincerely," he observes. "I try to convey my feelings and emotion – I've always tried to tell a story to the audience." Mozart, he adds, is the ideal story-telling composer. "His music is always closely related to singing and opera; very often the melodic line has to be rather like bel canto."

Cho sat down with WKCR: New York's Simon Cohen to discuss the album. Listen to the attached interview.