Seong-Jin Cho at the Teatro San Carlo: second concert of the Piano Festival

Il San Carlo Theater of Naples hosts the second appointment of the Piano Festival, a review dedicated to the great interpreters of the international scene. Tuesday March 10, 2026 at 20 pm the stage of the Neapolitan opera house will welcome the pianist Seong-Jin Cho, among the most appreciated musicians of his generation.

The South Korean artist, winner of the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2015 and Abbiati Record Award 2025 for the solo repertoire, he will bring to Naples a program that spans three centuries of piano music, exploring the link between dance and keyboard writing.

The program of the concert

The recital offers a musical journey that begins with the Baroque and ends with Romanticism, passing through the innovative language of the twentieth century.

The concert will be opened by Partita No. 1 in B flat major, BWV 825 di Johann Sebastian Bach, published in 1731 in the collection of ClavierübungThe work unfolds through a sequence of traditional dances from the Baroque suite, including Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue, interspersed with two Menuets.

The musical journey continues with the Piano Suite Op. 25 di Arnold Schoenberg, written between 1921 and 1923. Although it belongs to the composer's experimental phase and the transition towards twelve-tone technique, the structure of the work still recalls historical dance forms such as the Gavotte, Musette and Menuett.

From Schumann's Romanticism to Chopin's Waltzes

The program continues with “Faschingsschwank aus Wien” op. 26 di Robert Schumann, known in Italian as Vienna CarnivalThe work is a sort of grand romantic sonata that alternates energetic moments and lyrical passages, evoking the symbolic world of masks and celebrations.

The concert will conclude with a selection of 14 Waltzes by Fryderyk Chopin, composed between the 1830s and 1840s. In these pages, the Viennese waltz is transformed into refined salon music, characterized by stylistic elegance and great expressive freedom.

Who is Seong-Jin Cho

Born in South Korea, Seong-Jin Cho is today one of the most sought-after pianists on the international concert scene. After his victory at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, his career has experienced constant growth, leading him to perform in the most prestigious halls in the world.

He has collaborated with some of the most important orchestras, including:

• Wiener Philharmoniker
• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• London Symphony Orchestra

Among the directors he has worked with are such prominent names as Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano e Myung-Whun Chung.

The pianist is an exclusive artist Deutsche Grammophone and for the season 2025-2026 plays the role of Artist's Portrait of the London Symphony Orchestra. In recent years it has also been Artist in Residence of the Berlin Philharmonic.

The next events of the Piano Festival

After Seong-Jin Cho's concert, the San Carlo Theater Piano Festival will continue with other important international interpreters.

The calendar includes:

• March 19, 2026 – Igor Levit
• October 12, 2026 – Yunchan Lim

The festival once again confirms the Teatro San Carlo as a key venue for classical music in Italy, hosting some of the world's most renowned piano artists.