Jaap van Zweden should give Seoul orchestra a ‘unique sound’ as its music director after his New York Phil and Hong Kong Phil roles, critic says

After K-pop, K-dramas and Korean movies it’s time to establish the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra as ‘world-class’, says its head after hiring van Zweden

The orchestra lacks a distinctive style, one the Dutch maestro can forge as music director, a critic says; the man van Zweden will replace hints at problems

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Jaap van Zweden, music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, will perform the same role with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra from 2024. Photo: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Published: 6:45pm, 5 Sep 2022

Jaap van Zweden will be heading to Seoul after his contract with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra finishes in 2024. The Dutch conductor has accepted the post of music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO), soon to be vacated by the Finnish maestro Osmo Vänskä.

Announcing the appointment on Sunday, the chief executive officer of the Seoul Philharmonic, Sohn Eun-kyung, said van Zweden’s joining would “upgrade” the orchestra’s performances and help it establish itself as a “world-class orchestra”.

In Hong Kong, van Zweden, 61, has been credited with raising standards and lifting the international profile of the city’s flagship orchestra, which in 2019 became the first Asian orchestra to win Gramophone magazine’s “Orchestra of the Year” award.

Highlighting the extent of South Korea’s cultural ambition, Sohn added: “In Korea, K-culture, such as K-pop, movies, and dramas have already [won over] the world, and its classical music is also attracting attention as the country is the birthplace of many promising world-class artists.”

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra receive applause after a concert in 2018. Jaap van Zweden should forge a distinctive style for the orchestra when he takes over as music director in 2024, a music critic says. Photo: Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Nah Sung-in, a classical music critic in South Korea, hopes van Zweden will help the SPO develop a distinctive style, something Nah feels is much needed. The appointment of the high-profile conductor, who was once the youngest Concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra when he was 19, was “symbolic” and reflected the high standards of South Korea’s classical music scene, Nah said.

“Jaap van Zweden, who served as a concertmaster and is experienced with leading orchestras to have their own colours, is expected to give the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra an evergreen and unique sound, or brand, which has been lacking despite the SPO’s highly skilled performances.”