By Shirley Han Ying

(Seoul, June 17th, 2006) The world-renowned Janacek Chamber Orchestra from the Czech Republic held its second concert on June17^th in the Seoul Arts Center, which translates into Chinese as “Art Palace.”

The ensemble led by violinist Zdenek Dejmek, comprises 12 leading string musicians from the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra. At the second concert, the group presented four famous pieces to the audience, including “Concerto in A Major, RV158” by Antonio Vivaldi, “Flute Concerto No.1 in G Major, K.313” and “Piano Concerto No.12 in A Major, K.414” by W. A. Mozart, and “Suite for Strings” by Leos Janacek.

For two sections of the performance the ensemble was joined by Korean artists Lee Joo-hee (flute) and Yoo Hae-young (piano). Their memorable performances drew high acclaim from the audience. The prolonged ovation brought each of the artists back to the stage three times.

In the second section, Lee Joo-hee, wearing an ivory evening gown with sequins, performed Mozart’s “Concerto No.1 in G Major” on her golden flute. In the third section after the intermission, pianist Yoo Hae-young, in a stunning black patterned gown, performed “Concerto No.12 in A Major.”  

The orchestra is named for famous Czech composer Leos Janacek, one of the greatest Czech composers of the early 20^th century. It has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, Mexico and Japan, and has been invited to appear at important festivals such as Toledo, Bornholm, Munich, Prague, Florence, Turku and Flanders. In addition to a standard repertoire from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras, the orchestra has championed many contemporary Czech compositions.

In the last section of the concert, they performed Leos Janacek’s early work “Suite for String” which was written in 1877. Different from the first three pieces, which were bright and happy type of court music, Janacek’s work is more powerful and extreme and is perceived to have more character.

The audience was a broad mix of adults and children who sat rapt with attention throughout the performance, clearly demonstrating the popularity of classical music in Korea.