With a massive following in the far east just waiting to snap it up, Deutsche Grammophon has been quick off the mark with its debut disc from the winner of this year’s Chopin competition in Warsaw, compiled from Seong-Jin Cho’s performances during the recital stages of the competition in October. It gives a sense of what this hugely talented 21-year-old South Korean has to offer, apart from the performance of Chopin’s E minor Concerto with which he made his London debut in November.
The recording shows that Cho is not quite the finished article, and that he should gain in expressive range and keyboard colour as he becomes a more experienced recitalist of a wider repertoire. His performance of the 24 Preludes Op 28 is ravishing. The wonderfully crisp, unfussy articulation one quickly takes for granted, but the restraint and subtle discrimination of Cho’s playing, combined with his silvery, never fulsome sound, is constantly beguiling. The B flat minor Sonata No 2 doesn’t quite pack the punch that it can – the first movement is a little strait-laced and the funeral march is rather detached. The Op 53 Polonaise can take a bit more extrovert energy than Cho allows it, but nothing is done just for show; it’s all about the music.
