South Korea's classical music scene has already shifted into Beethoven mode ahead of the 200th anniversary of the composer's death next year. Piano concertos and symphonies are filling programs this autumn, and next year brings a string of complete-cycle projects spanning the piano, violin and cello sonatas as well as the symphonies.
Gyeonggi Art Center built its 2026 Korea Piano Festival around the theme "Beethoven Preview," wrapping up the series on the 10th. Pianists from Korea and abroad, led by Kim Dae-jin and the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra, divided up all five Beethoven piano concertos. With sonatas and piano trios added to the lineup, the week offered an intensive look at the composer's piano music.
The Seoul Arts Center also turned to Beethoven early. It set "2026 Preview Beethoven" as this year's theme for its Saturday Concert series, presenting symphonies and concertos throughout the year with ensembles including the Korean National Symphony Orchestra and the Gyeonggi Philharmonic. On the 17th, the Gyeonggi Philharmonic under conductor Lee Byung-wook performs the Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor," with pianist Kim Tae-hyung.
The chamber repertoire offers its own Beethoven survey. Violinist Lee Ji-hye and pianist Kim Da-sol are performing all 10 Beethoven violin sonatas across three concerts. The pair opened in March with Nos. 1, 4, 6 and 10, play Nos. 2, 5 and 7 on the 24th of this month, and will close the cycle with Nos. 3, 8 and 9, the "Kreutzer," in March next year, the month marking the bicentennial of Beethoven's death.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, the "Choral," arrives at the end of the year. The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under Jaap van Zweden performs the work at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on Dec. 17 and 18. The KBS Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Nott, presents the same piece at the Seoul Arts Center on Dec. 24 and 30. The Dec. 24 year-end concert is devoted entirely to Beethoven, pairing the "Choral" with the Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor," featuring pianist Son Min-soo.
The bicentennial year brings an even fuller slate. Pianist Kim Sun-wook begins a complete cycle of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas at the Seoul Arts Center on Jan. 13. Having completed the cycle once in 2012 and 2013, he returns to the full set roughly 14 years later. Kim said he wants to reinterpret Beethoven through the experience he has accumulated and a changed perspective, and to share that with audiences.
Complete-cycle projects extend to the violin and cello repertoire. Violinist Yang In-mo performs all of Beethoven's violin sonatas over three concerts at the Seoul Arts Center on Jan. 19, 21 and 24. On Dec. 21 next year, pianist Lim Yun-chan and cellist Han Jae-min take on all five sonatas for cello and piano at the same venue. The pairing of two young performers active on the international stage, covering Beethoven from his early to late periods in a single program, is already drawing attention.
On the symphonic side, a large-scale project arrives under maestro John Eliot Gardiner. Gardiner will conduct a complete cycle of the Beethoven symphonies at the Seoul Arts Center in December next year, with "John Eliot Gardiner's Complete Beethoven Symphonies II" scheduled for Dec. 4 and "Complete III" for Dec. 5. Gardiner, regarded as a leading figure in period-instrument and historically informed performance, revisiting the full set of symphonies in the bicentennial year is expected to serve as the finale to next year's Beethoven wave.
