Echoes of Český Krumlov on Vltava
In the time slot on Czech Radio 3 – Vltava that is regularly set aside for the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (PRSO), Tuesday evening, you can from 20:00 on 9 October recall the atmosphere of a concert at the Český Krumlov festival at which, on 27 July this year, one of today’s most sought after pianists, Konstantin Scherbakov, performed.
He was accompanied on Tchaikovsky’s popular Concerto in B minor by the PRSO, conducted by Manuel Hernandez Silva. Scherbakov also performed with Korea’s Shangee Cheong on the Concerto for Violin and Piano in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. The prelude featured Mozart’s Symphony no. 35 in D major, known as the Haffner Symphony.
Konstantin Scherbakov, who comes from Barnaul in Siberia, began his career as a child prodigy, when he debuted successfully at only five years of age. He studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. His triumph in the Rachmaninoff Competition at 20 was followed by a series of successes in other competitions throughout Europe. In 1992, he moved to Switzerland, his star skyrocketed, and a rich and prized discography for EMI, Naxos and other world renowned labels began to be born. Alongside a busy concert schedule, Scherbakov devotes his energies to teaching at Zurich’s Hochschule für Musik Winterthur, as well as giving master classes around Europe. Scherbakov is renowned for the demanding nature of his repertoire, which includes the complete works of Tchaikovsky, Medtner, Scriabin, and Respighi, as well as Godowsky and Shostakovich.
Sanghee Cheong started playing the violin when she was six years old. She has won numerous competitions and played with ensembles such as the Seoul Philharmonic, the Korean American Youth Symphony, the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, the North Bohemian Philharmonic Teplice, the Egyptian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Pskov Philharmonic, the Kharkov Philharmonic, the Bari State Symphony Orchestra, and the MAV Symphony Orchestra Budapest. In 2012, she was invited to perform part of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Mischa Maisky and the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. Sanghee Cheong lives in Vienna, where she attends university.
