New album evoke the spirit of Vienna

Yoon-Jong Yoo, Dong-A Daily, 2019

Beethoven sonatas that evoke the spirit of “Vienna”
Pianist Hie-Yon Choi releases a new album
Performed on an 1838 Bösendorfer … deep, elegant sound
In contrast to the brilliant Steinway tone

A Beethoven recording one wants to keep close for a long time has just been released: an album featuring Beethoven’s Sonatas Nos. 18, 26, 27, and 30, performed by Hie-Yon Choi (Professor at Seoul National University) and issued by the Decca label.

The selection radiates calmness and intimacy. The playing is fluid and elegantly connected, marked by intelligent architecture and free of any vanity. It feels like an intimate conversation with a thoughtful friend. The warm acoustics—like listening in a well-proportioned living room—add to the perfection of the recording.

At the release conference in Kumho Art Hall Seoul, Choi announced that she recorded the CD on a Bösendorfer. “It is an instrument that expresses the Viennese feeling so well. Elegant, not thick in tone, with a golden color…” she said.

Bösendorfer was founded in 1828 in Austria—25 years before Steinway was born in New York. It became a royal piano in 1830. In the early 20th century, as ‘virtuoso’ pianists such as Rachmaninoff increasingly came into the spotlight, Steinway, with its bright and brilliant sound, became standardized. Its ‘descendants,’ including Yamaha and Fazioli, also followed Steinway’s structure and tonal aesthetic.
By contrast, Bösendorfer has preserved its reputation as a conservative, distinctly ‘Viennese’ piano. It is comparable to how Viennese orchestras continue to use the Viennese horn, an instrument more difficult to play but possessing a uniquely characteristic sound.

Whereas many pianos use bent wood for the rim, Bösendorfer employs polished spruce. Its lower register is deep and resonant, and the middle register pure and lucid—standing apart from the “brightly blended” Steinway sound. Pianists such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Wilhelm Backhaus, and Annie Fischer recorded their Beethoven sonatas on Bösendorfer instruments.

Choi will perform Beethoven Sonatas Nos. 8, 26, 27, and 30 on January 31 at 8 p.m. in the IBK Chamber Hall of the Seoul Arts Center. Sonata No. 8, the *Pathétique*, replaces No. 18. For this concert she will play a Steinway—seeking a radiant tone color without abandoning the subtle qualities achieved on the Bösendorfer. Appreciating the delicate differences between the piano heard on the CD and the instrument used in the live recital may offer listeners a rewarding point of comparison.
Tickets: KRW 30,000–50,000.