There are great conductors and great orchestras, but rarely do the twain meet. However, this month audiences get lucky, as Beijing hosts the Royal Concertgebouw (pronounced ‘concert heh BOUGH’) Orchestra, Gramophone’s best symphony ensemble of 2008. Even better, the stellar group hosts star-is-born violinist Janine Jansen and legendary Korean conductor Myung-whun Chung, who brings a different kind of class to the podium.
In a profession teeming with megalomaniacs, Chung is celebrated as much for his talent as for his higher calling. Born in Seoul, in 1953, Chung was the piano part of the family trio. He played with the Seoul National Orchestra (SNO) at the age of seven, and at 18 returned for his conducting debut, before taking second in the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition three years later. After decades leading the planet’s greatest orchestras, Chung was draped with awards, but the munificent maestro had new worlds to conquer.
He established a series of musical and environmental programmes, and served as an ambassador for the Drug Control Programme at the United Nations, as well as being designated Unesco’s ‘1995 Man of the Year’. In addition to fundraising for rice shipments, Chung donated his Samsung Group’s Ho-Am Prize (worth 111,000USD) to alleviate poverty north of the DMZ. This past September, he made a landmark visit to Pyongyang and returned with plans to form the first intra-peninsula orchestra, while his 15-year-old Asian Philharmonic Orchestra promotes friendships between Korea, China and Japan. Best of all, his beneficence is not limited to his homeland; after meeting with Benin officials, Chung raised funds to provide drinkable water and help trafficked women. The 120 virtuosos of the Concertgebouw may appreciate his skills with a baton, but Chung’s greatness benefits us all.