Chopin’s 24 Preludes as performed by Dasol Kim
WHEN DASOL KIM BEGAN PLAYING PIANO 20 YEARS AGO, HE PROBABLY NEVER IMAGINED THE JOURNEY HE WOULD TAKE AS AN ARTIST. BUT ONE THING IS ALWAYS TRUE: DASOL LOVES ADVENTURE IN HIS MUSICAL UNDERTAKINGS. HE’S CURRENTLY PERFORMING ALL OF BEETHOVEN’S SONATAS OVER A FOUR-YEAR PERIOD, AND HE SERVED AS THE FIRST ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE AT SEOUL’S KUMHO ART HALL.
One of our favorite adventures was Dasol’s idea to play all 24 Chopin Preludes in a single concert! (Bonus fact: did you know that Chopin wrote three other preludes: a prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 45; a piece in A-flat Major; and an unfinished piece.) Though the preludes, originally published in 1839, are short works, performing all 24 is no small task.
Chopin's pieces each stand alone to convey different emotions and feelings. When he published all the preludes together, Chopin reinvented what “prelude” meant at that time, and he shifted cultural norms regarding the worth of small musical forms.
Although many critics believe that Chopin might have imagined a continuous recital of the cycle (because the sequence of related keys is similar to common harmonic practice), Chopin himself never played more than four of the preludes at once. However, that hasn’t stopped talented artists, like Dasol, from appreciating the works in a singular performance.
One reviewer said that while he was at first hesitant of Dasol’s choice to play the full set, “hearing them in Kim’s capable hands, I was sold on playing them all...He had great balance between his hands so the line we need to hear was always the alpha dog. Even when the melodic material was the top note in a chord, he brought it out” (Theater Jones).
You can view Dasol’s performance of all 24 preludes below, and we hope you will join us later this month as he performs Chopin’s Scherzo No. 1, Op. 20; No. 2, Op. 31; No. 3, Op. 39; and No. 4, Op. 54; as well as works by Schumann, Medtner, and Scriabin. Mr. Kim will also bring his Beethoven expertise to the Saturday SOLO concert.