The Afternoon Concerts at the Museum of Musical Instruments (MIM) have come to an end. The Elisabeth Competition is approaching. A reason to give the concert on Thursday, April 23rd an extra dimension. Press contact officer of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel Bart Vande Voorde was proud to introduce two of the 66 cellists who will participate in the Elisabeth Competition for cello between May 4th and June 10th.
The two are completely different personalities. Michael Song is an impressive appearance, a picture in black and brown, that of his Dominico Montagnano from 1723 and that of his shoes. He radiates seriousness and concentration. Depth and control characterize his playing. That was the case in the Ballade Op. 3 that Josef Suk composed before fate turned his flaming musical dialectic into reflection.
It was nice to hear how Song built up the melody into a lively dialogue with the piano of Katsura Mizumoto. This Japanese pianist studied in Frankfurt, built a reputation as a soloist and chamber musician, and is an accompanist at the Brussels Conservatorium and at the Music Chapel in Waterloo, where Song has been an artist in residence since 2023. Song's contemplative approach came into its own even more in the Cello Sonata of Debussy. It suited him perfectly with its hazy searching melody that slowly took form and was beautifully laid down. And the pizzicati enhanced the charm even more. A delightful singing "Romance" by Balakirev and a not overly pathetic "Pezzo Capriccioso" by Tchaikovsky confirmed the traditional trend the Canadian pursued and which was only broken by a determined performance of 'Drei Kleine Stücke" by an early Webern.
Andrew Byun's repertoire contains a preponderance of modern work for solo cello: Crumb, Hindemith, Ligeti, Penderecki, Gaspar Cassado... In early April he played the Cello Concerto by Henri Dutilleux "Tout un monde lointain" for MuCH. At the MIM he began his performance with "Lullaby" by Kaija Saariaho. You're either for or against it, but the attraction this Finnish spectralist who died in 2023 exerts on many escapes me. Yet a gnawing bit for the bow of this clever South Korean daredevil, who was put on the route by recordings of Jacqueline Dupré, studied with Lyn Harrell and Gary Hoffman and has been residing in the Chapelle since 2025.
To be sure, he continued with Suk's "Ballade" and with the first part of the Cello Concerto by Leopold Hofmann. The sound of his Chiaffredo Cappa from 1690 is more pronounced and comes more directly at you. The Cello Sonata by Boccherini that they played together offered the opportunity to compare the "nobility, poise and assurance" of Song with what the leading monthly 'The Strad' described as "the electricifying energy" of Byun.
Choose between the two? Preferably not. That will be the task of the jury, including well-known names such as Roel Dieltiens, Marie Hallynck, Anne Gastinel… A small detail: Byun was already wearing shiny black patent leather shoes, as we are used to seeing from the greatest virtuosos! Guy Van Waas pointed out to the numerous audience, which included a school from Ixelles, the first of the 26 concerts of season 2026-2027 with Lorenzo Gatto & Friends on October 15th.