V, a member of the group BTS, recently drew attention by posting a video on his social networking service (SNS) showing him playing piano alongside pianist Cho Seong-jin. V performed the jazz standard "Misty," while Cho played Chopin's "Ballade No. 4." In the video, the two are seen filming each other's performances on their phones, reflected in a glass window, with V adding the caption "It's already started."
This is a phrase Cho Seong-jin left when he released his first official studio album in 2016.
In 2016, the year after winning the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition, Cho released his debut album "Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 · Ballades," which included Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 and the complete Chopin Ballades, performed with the London Symphony Orchestra led by conductor Gianandrea Noseda. At the time, the record label released an interview video in which Cho demonstrated and explained Ballades Nos. 1 through 4.
The scene that received the most love was, without question, his explanation of the opening of Ballade No. 4.
"The beginning of this piece is like gazing at the stars in the sky or hearing a song from the heavens," Cho said. "(Playing forcefully) We don't start this piece this way — the music has already begun. (We don't start this piece. It's already started.)"
He then made a gesture with his left hand, as if drawing in a melody floating in the air, and had his right hand take it over, playing the first octave on the note G (sol) as delicately as ringing a small bell. In this single phrase and brief motion, he captured his interpretation that a performer is not one who creates music, but one who naturally takes up music that is already flowing.
Although this interview drew great attention among classical music enthusiasts a decade ago, it is now receiving explosive interest again as V recently used the same phrase as a video caption.
Ballade No. 4 is considered the most profound and grand of the four ballades Chopin left behind. With its complex contrapuntal structure, constantly varying narrative, and philosophical depth, it is a highly demanding work that requires both lyricism and overwhelming technique.
By making this piece his own, Cho signaled through the album that he was growing from a competition winner into a full-fledged musician. Rather than foregrounding dazzling technique, he presented his own interpretation of Chopin through long-breathed narrative, meticulous structure, and delicate yet explosive touch that realized a rich palette of colors.
Classical Music, an authoritative British classical music magazine, awarded the album four stars. Critic John Allison, a former juror of the International Chopin Piano Competition, said, "In the Chopin concerto, a mature interpretation stands out more than the improvisational fervor of his competition victory," adding, "From the moment the piano enters with fortissimo octaves, he takes complete command of the work, and in the final movement, Cho leads the music's dance."
He also praised the complete ballades, saying, "Chopin's four ballades are works that demand both lyrical restraint and virtuosity," and adding, "In No. 1 there is somewhat of a tendency toward emotional immersion, but in the remaining three works he delivers a more noble and dignified interpretation."
"It's already started."
This phrase, revived by V, condenses the attitude toward music that Cho held at the time — that a performer is one who discovers music that already exists and naturally reveals it, rather than one who leads the music. Could this single phrase not have been the artistic compass needle of Cho Seong-jin, who over the past decade has grown into a world-class performer?
