Soprano Sumi Hwang in Recital
True music reflects the thoughts of its age and its people. My people are Americans, and my time is today. — George Gershwin · the man who wrote tonight's final block, explaining his own music
At a glance 🔭💭
Some coordinates adapted from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) · Pleiades (CC BY 3.0)
People on stage and behind it ⏳🌊
- SopranoSumi Hwang
Completed bachelor's and master's studies at Seoul National University's College of Music, then graduated from the advanced soloist program (opera · lieder & oratorio) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich in Germany. Winner of the 2014 Queen Elisabeth Competition, having placed second at the ARD Munich Competition and won the Anneliese Rothenberger Competition around it. Has sung leading roles at Oper Bonn, the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Geneva, and the Theater an der Wien, and the Olympic Hymn at the opening ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics was this voice. Recorded the album 'Songs' (2019) for Deutsche Grammophon with Helmut Deutsch, a master of lieder accompaniment — a singer who has long held opera and lieder side by side. In July 2026, sang Liù in Turandot at the Seoul Arts Center. With a career like that, a program that sets arias, art songs, and jazz on a single stage, as tonight's does, is no stretch. Currently a professor of vocal music at Kyung Hee University.
- PianoEunhyeon Bang
Completed a master's degree and the advanced soloist program in **lieder accompaniment** at the University of Music Carl Maria von Weber Dresden in Germany. Vocal accompaniment is not 'following along' but a discipline of its own — it means that someone who has spent years training to read the poem and design the singer's breath is walking onto the stage alongside the singer. Served as a music coach at the Stadttheater Bremerhaven in Germany, and is currently a music coach at the Opera Studio of the Korean National Opera. In tonight's program, the piano in 'The Trout' and the waltz in the 'Jewel Song' are less accompaniment than roles.
- Guest saxophoneYeongjun Song
Graduate of Gyeongbuk Arts High School and the instrumental department of the Kyung Hee University College of Music, he is known to have been selected as a Kumho Young Artist and to have given a solo recital. He is also said to have appeared on the stage of the Chosun Ilbo Newcomers' Concert. In the second half he takes the stage alone for one piece (Molinelli) and stands beside the voice in three Gershwin songs — a saxophone seldom enters a vocal recital, and that is tonight's upset.
- ArrangementSeongmin An
The arranger who, as presented, set the three Gershwin songs of the second half for soprano · saxophone · piano. Songs once supported by a jazz band or orchestra must now be carried by three people, so where the saxophone takes the obbligato (ornamental line) and where it yields to the piano is itself the design of the arrangement.
I. Handel — in the shade of a tree · 1709 · 1738
(The first piece) Tonight's first note is the song that comes the moment the curtain rises on the opera Serse. Xerxes, King of Persia, stands in a garden and praises the shade of a single plane tree — not a love song, not an aria of rage, but **a song addressed to a tree.** That the most famous opening number in operatic history should be such a scene is both the joke and the charm of the piece. (The Largo misunderstanding) It is commonly called "Handel's Largo," but the marking in the score is larghetto — a nickname that hardened as later arrangements stretched it out endlessly slowly. Originally it is a short, plainspoken song that opens the first scene of the drama. Timing how slowly it moves tonight is one way of listening. (The failure of 1738) Serse premiered in 1738 at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, London, and **was a failure at the box office.** Audiences expecting a serious mythological opera found the work's comic tone strange. The opera was forgotten, but its first aria alone survived and has been sung for nearly three hundred years — tonight, too, only that one number takes the stage. (Handel at twenty-four) The second piece goes back 29 years. Agrippina, premiered in Venice at Christmas 1709, made a twenty-four-year-old German an overnight name in Europe. It is a drama of intrigue at the Roman court, and "Great Joy" is the short, sparkling song of triumph Poppea sings amid the turmoil. This pairing — opening with a slow meditation and answering with a quick joy — is the grammar of this recital for the next 90 minutes: **slowness set beside speed, gravity beside jest.**
The song that comes the moment the curtain rises. Commonly known as "Handel's Largo," but the marking in the score is larghetto — listen and time how slowly it moves.
- The first bar — the accompaniment arrives before the voice
- Ornamentation — what the singer adds in the repeated section
- The close — an aria that shuts quietly without calling for applause
II. Schubert — to music, to Mignon, to the trout
(An die Musik) Schubert wrote "An die Musik" at twenty, a song that thanks music itself. The poem is by his friend Franz von Schober, and the piece runs under two minutes. For 200 years this short song has served as a concert's parting farewell — that is, the piece performers sing as they leave the stage. Tonight it is placed near the start, so it is less a farewell than a declaration. (Mignon) Mignon is the girl in Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. A child sold to a traveling troupe, she cannot say where she came from and longs for a land in the south. Schubert set this girl's poems again and again — the very fact that he returned to the same poems so many times is proof that he could not let go of her. It is a song made of a single emotion, longing, so rather than following the melody, listen to the temperature of the voice. (The trout) And then the mood flips. In "Die Forelle" the real protagonist is the piano — the right hand draws, without rest, a six-note figure leaping through the water. The song has three verses, and at the moment the angler muddies the water to catch the trout, **that figure breaks.** This one spot, where the story becomes a musical event, is the purpose of the whole piece. Two years later Schubert rewrote the melody as chamber music and left us the "Trout" Quintet — many people know that version first, but the original is this song to be sung tonight.
A song of under two minutes. A piece used for 200 years as a concert's parting farewell, placed tonight near the start — not a farewell but a declaration.
- Piano left hand — the footsteps of a walking bass
- The difference between the two verses — how the same melody is set differently the second time
The protagonist is the piano. The six-note ripple drawn by the right hand breaks the moment the angler muddies the water — that one spot is the purpose of the piece.
- The right hand's leaping figure — it never rests from the start
- Verse 3 — the exact moment the pattern collapses
- Confirm it is the same melody as the "Trout" Quintet two years later
III. Mozart — in the garden, knowing who is listening
(The situation) The last act of Le nozze di Figaro, a garden at night. Susanna sings a love song **knowing** that Figaro, soon to be her husband, is listening from behind a bush. Figaro believes the song is meant for the Count and burns with jealousy. Only the audience knows the truth — that the most beautiful serenade in the world is in fact a prank. (Why two titles) "Giunse alfin il momento…" and "Deh vieni, non tardar" appear side by side in the program because they are not two pieces but one whole. The first is a recitative (sung speech), the second the aria. In an opera, the recitative that explains the situation ushers in the aria — a sign that the recital does not intend to skip that door. (Listening) The difficulty of this aria is not the high notes but its **simplicity.** The accompaniment is thin and the melody walks slowly. It is a piece in which you can hear exactly where the singer breathes, a kind of beauty singers fear most. When you can hear sincerity and performance layered over one melody — that duplicity — you have heard the piece through.
A love song sung knowing a man is eavesdropping. The recitative "Giunse alfin il momento" brings in the aria, which is why both titles appear together in the program.
- The seam where the recitative passes into the aria
- Breath places — the thin accompaniment lets them be heard
- The point where sincerity and performance overlap in one melody
IV. Two songs in Korean — That Word · Star
(The place) In this program that moves among three languages, the two Korean songs sit between Mozart and Gounod, in the quietest spot of the first half. With showy opera arias standing on either side, the contrast is clear — a low voice after a loud one. (That Word) Mirae Hwang set a poem by Taeju Na. Na is the poet of "Wildflower" and a man who retired as an elementary school principal. Because he writes in short, easy words, composers seek him out with unusual frequency, and in 2025 he even opened some five thousand of his own poems wholesale to a composition contest — his reason being that poets and composers should be able to comfort people. This song, "That Word," however, is a new work released in April 2026 in a performance by the tenor Hyeonsu Kim, so there is almost no material on it. That means **a new work most of the audience will be hearing for the first time,** and listening with no prior knowledge is, if anything, the more honest way. The shorter the poem, the harder the song — with so few words to set, the music must bear the emotion alone. (Star — the second piece) "Star" is the exact opposite case. It is a song set to a sijo by Byeonggi Lee (Garam), and **there is already a beloved national art song.** That is "Star" by Suin Lee, written when he was a music teacher at a girls' high school in Masan. It premiered at the 1970 Seoul Music Festival and became a song everyone knows through the airwaves. What is sung tonight is not that piece but a new setting of the same sijo by Hakjun Yun. (So what do we listen for) It means a song heard on the premise that most of the audience has Suin Lee's melody memorized. Where Yun breaks the same lines differently and where he lifts them differently — the points where expectation slips in familiar places are the main business of this piece. The composer Yun is known for "Majung" (poem by Rim Heo). Starting from children's songs, he tends to write melodies that are easy to sing and to draw color from the harmony, so rather than following the song, it is better to place your ear on the moments when the piano's chords change. (The sijo form) Lee was a poet and scholar of Korean literature who revived the sijo in the early twentieth century. In 1926 he wrote "What Is Sijo?" and led the revival movement, and in 1939 he published the Garam Sijo Collection. The sijo is a fixed form of three lines with a set number of syllables, so its form already carries a rhythm — in particular, **the tone turns once at the opening of the final line.** Listen for whether a harmonic change or a rest is placed there, and it is immediately clear whether the composer followed the sijo's rhythm or went against it. (Pronunciation) In a song in one's own language, pronunciation is the instrument. A consonant that slips past in a foreign-language song is fully heard here — these are the most honest two pieces in this recital, where you can compare how the same singer's voice changes in the mother tongue.
A new work released in April 2026 in a performance by the tenor Hyeonsu Kim, so there are almost no public records. A spot where having no prior information makes for a more honest listening.
- A short poem — where the music carries the feeling alone
- The grain of pronunciation in which Korean consonants are heard as they are
A live performance of today's song by today's singer (Sail Korean Art Song Series, February 2024). This is the surest item in these study notes — you can compare it in advance with Su-in Yi's beloved art song setting of the same sijo.
- Where expectation slips in a familiar place
- The opening of the final line — what was placed where the tone breaks
- The moment the piano harmony shifts — this composer's color comes from there
V. Gounod — before the jewels, the close of Part One
(The trap) Part One closes with the most famous soprano aria of French opera. In Act III of Gounod's Faust, Marguerite finds a jewel box at her own front door. She does not know who left it — it is bait set by Mephistopheles to bring her down. The song is the scene in which she puts the jewels on one by one and is startled by her own reflection in the mirror. (Waltz and laughter) The music rolls along in waltz time while the voice springs up like laughter — a classic example of coloratura (fast, rolling ornamental virtuosity) used as emotional expression itself. The more dazzling the display, the crueler the scene becomes, because the audience knows it is a trap. (Placement) Remember that this piece is the last of Part One. Beginning with a meditation in the shade of a tree, passing through the low voice of the Korean language, the lights come up at the peak of splendor. And after a fifteen-minute intermission, an instrument that was not on stage comes up.
A scene of astonishment at one's own reflection in the mirror, before the jewel box Mephistopheles left behind. Over a waltz rhythm, the coloratura springs up like laughter.
- Ornaments that roll along like laughter — virtuosity as feeling
- Waltz time — why a waltz when this is no ball?
- What only the audience knows: that this is a trap
VI. Part Two — the saxophone comes in · New York 1911–1936
(It is not a voice that opens the door) The first piece of Part Two has no singing. The saxophone plays alone "Tango Club" from Roberto Molinelli's Four Pictures from New York. Molinelli is an Italian composer who moves between classical music and jazz, and this suite is part of the modern standard repertoire for saxophonists. It is unusual in a vocal recital for an instrumental solo to take a whole piece — read it as a declaration that Part Two is a different world. (Three Gershwins) Next come three Gershwin songs, arranged for soprano, saxophone, and piano (arr. Seongmin Ahn). "Summertime" is the lullaby from the opera Porgy and Bess (1935) — counted among the most frequently re-sung of all American songs. "Blah, Blah, Blah" is its exact opposite: a **joke song** that openly mocks the clichéd lyrics that rhyme about the moon, June, and love. "By Strauss" takes the side of the Viennese waltz, pushed aside by jazz, and is written as a deliberate waltz. All three are songs written partly to make us laugh, so if you carry over the seriousness of Part One, you will miss the pieces. (The last joke) The closing piece is "Art Is Calling for Me" from Victor Herbert's operetta The Enchantress (1911) — subtitled "I Want to Be a Prima Donna." It is a comic aria in which a young woman, desperate to become an opera singer, shows off her talent and pours out coloratura. Having a **real prima donna** sing a song in which a singer imitates a singer — there could be no cleverer choice for the final spot of the ninety minutes.
The piece that opens Part Two has no singing. It is a suite by an Italian composer who moves between classical music and jazz, and a modern standard for saxophonists.
- The joints of the tango — where the beat catches
- The saxophone's tonal range — from whisper to scream
A joke that takes the side of the Viennese waltz, pushed aside by jazz, and is written as a deliberate waltz. With the saxophone standing alongside today, the mocked and the mocker share one stage.
- Waltz imitation — how it differs from a real Viennese waltz
- Deadpan lyrics — the more serious it pretends to be, the funnier it gets
The comic aria of a young woman desperate to become a prima donna. A real singer imitating a singer — a perfect fit for the final spot.
- The exaggeration of coloratura — how far does it push?
- Between speech and song — the point where acting begins
VII. Study route — how to listen to the ninety minutes
(Just three things) ① **For the arias, learn the situation first.** The four pieces by Handel, Mozart, and Gounod can be fully heard without knowing the lyrics, once you know the scene — the shade of a tree, a victory, an overheard garden, the jewel trap. The four sentences in the text above are your study. ② **In art song, the poem is half.** The three Schubert songs and the two Korean pieces are short, so if you read the poem once before going, the song begins to sound like a recitation. ③ **Go ready to laugh in Part Two.** Gershwin and Herbert are a loss if you listen to them seriously. (Applause) Since there is no song cycle today, you may applaud after each piece. There are only two exceptions — between Mozart's recitative and aria (they are one unit), and groups by the same composer, like the three Schubert songs, which are often received together by convention, so take a beat to look around you. (What to watch for today) One person's voice crosses Italian, German, Korean, and English. How the pronunciation and breath change when the language changes, and how that voice responds when it meets the unfamiliar colleague of the saxophone in Part Two — these two things are the main event of tonight.
A live recording of the winning performance. It is the origin of the voice you will hear today — the pleasure of comparing the tension of a competition with the ease of a recital is left to the concert hall.
- Concentration in the quiet passages — this singer's signature
- Switching languages — in which language one feels most free
Glossary notes 📚🔎
Recitativo
(Word origin) The Italian recitativo comes from recitare, 'to recite, to speak as if telling a story.' The name carries its character intact: a passage that is less sung than spoken aloud. (In music) In opera, the passage in which a character explains the present situation and its backstory, sung in a murmuring style that follows the rhythm of speech rather than a fixed melody. It is usually followed by an aria in which the emotion bursts forth. It is like an actor in a play delivering the lines that explain the events before moving on to a climactic scene of song or dance — and the reason today's Mozart piece has two titles is that the recitativo and the aria travel together as a set.
Coloratura
(Word origin) In Italian it means 'coloring.' The name comes from the way a plain melody is adorned with brilliant ornamental notes, as if painted with color. (In music) A singing technique in which the voice runs notes rapidly, leaps through the high register, and decorates the line lavishly. It is like a gym class in which students add flashy moves such as spins and jumps to a basic routine — in Gounod's 'Jewel Song,' this dazzling technique bounces up like laughter, and the more dazzling it becomes, the more cruel the scene sounds.
Lied
(Word origin) In German it simply means 'song.' As a musical term, however, it has settled into a specific meaning: the German art song for voice and piano. (In music) A German song in which the piano accompaniment and the voice form an equal pair to set a single poem to music. The words and the music matter equally — it is said that the poem is half of the song. It is like reading a picture book in which the text and the pictures do not tell different stories but together complete a single scene — the three Schubert songs to be sung today are the standard of this form.
'Handel's Largo'
(Word origin) Largo is Italian for 'broadly,' and larghetto means 'a little broadly.' Both are instructions to play slowly, but larghetto is less slow than largo. (In music) The nickname that later generations gave to the opening aria of Handel's opera Serse. The marking actually written in the score is larghetto, but later arrangers stretched the piece out to an endless slowness, and the nickname 'Largo' stuck. The original is a short, understated piece — rather like a short nickname that, over time, becomes more famous with a meaning different from the original one.
Sijo (時調)
(Word origin) In Chinese characters, 時 means 'time' and 調 means 'tune' — 'the tune of its age.' The name preserves the fact that it was originally a fixed-form poem sung as a song. (In music) A traditional Korean fixed verse form of three lines (the opening, middle, and closing lines) with a set number of syllables. In particular, the rule that the tone turns sharply at the start of the final line means the form itself already holds a rhythm. Just as a rapper must fit lyrics into a set beat, a composer setting a sijo to music must first decide whether to follow this fixed rhythm or deliberately go against it — Garam Yi Byeong-gi's 'Byeol' ('Star') is such a case.