Seong-Jin Cho with Augustin Hadelich (violin)

Programme:

Johannes Brahms:
- Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78 "Regenliedsonate"

Leos Janacek:
- Sonata for Violin and Piano

Amy Beach:
- Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23

Sergei Prokofiev:
- Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in D major, Op. 94a

Seong-Jin Cho and Augustin Hadelich each won an Opus Klassik award in 2025, independently of one another. Together on stage, they play as if they have been making music together their whole lives. Piano and violin merge into a living dialogue - tender one moment, passionate the next. When they bring Brahms' "Regenliedsonate" and more to Bochum, the music speaks for itself, surprises, and moves.

Cho, born in Seoul in 1994, rose to international fame in 2015 with his victory at the International Chopin Competition. Since then he has performed with the world's leading orchestras, winning audiences over with interpretations that balance clarity and emotional depth. Hadelich, a multiple award winner - including a Grammy - is widely regarded as one of the great violinists of our time. His playing combines technical mastery with a storytelling intensity that turns every work into an event.

The programme at the Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr opens with Brahms' Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78 - the "Regenliedsonate" - whose lyrical warmth and intimate melodic writing place it among the finest works of Romantic chamber music. It is followed by Janacek's Sonata for Violin and Piano, a piece of expressive tension and angular beauty.

The second half brings Amy Beach's delicate Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23, before Prokofiev's Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 94a closes the evening with rhythmic brilliance and melodic invention.

Performers:

Seong-Jin Cho, piano
Augustin Hadelich, violin