A tour-de-force concerto that will leave you breathless, Tchaikovsky’s romantic piano concerto opens this inaugural visit from the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra with soloist Sunwook Kim.

Sunwook came to international recognition when he won the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006 (aged just 18) becoming the competition’s youngest winner for 40 years.

The energetic and poetic, seven-minute Frontispiece for orchestra by Unsuk Chin (the dazzlingly original musical mind behind the opera Alice in Wonderland) precedes what many consider the ultimate fairy-tale ballet score, Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite.

The Firebird Suite confirms without doubt that this orchestra, under Music Director Osmo Vänskä, delivers powerful performances on concert platforms across the globe, earning acclaim and supporters wherever they go.

‘Vänskä isn’t only about meticulous preparation. In concert he’s a wiry dynamo: lean, whippy and indefatigably energetic. His interpretations are the same. He never stops probing and pushing.’ (The Times on Osmo Vänskä)

This concert forms part of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s European tour this October, its first since its Russian tour in 2019, which sees it perform at the Großes Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein in Vienna and finally here at Cadogan Hall.

The Zurich International Orchestra Series is sponsored by Zurich.