South Koran piano virtuoso Kun Woo Paik performed Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff and after the intermission Concerto for piano and orchestra in C major, op. 39 by Ferruccio Busoni at the Castle Riding Hall on Thursday 28^th July. The viewers rewarded the soloist’s performance with a thunderous standing ovation. The program was a congratulatory concert on the occasion of Kun Woo Paik’s 70^th birthday which he celebrated this year. “I always like to come back to this festival, it has a unique atmosphere because it takes place in such an amazing town. This is my third performance but I feel as if I had known this town for ever, it is really close to my heart. This year I especially looked forward to playing Ferruccio Busoni’s concert. This piece is really demanding and there aren’t many opportunities to present it to an audience. This year 150 years have passed since F. Busoni’s birth and therefore I am glad that the festival included this work in the program,” said Kun Woo Paik. At the end of Busoni’s composition the male part of the Kühn Choir of Prague sang and the pianist was accompanied by the North Czech Philharmonic Teplice under the baton of Alfonso Scarano. The orchestra also played the symphonic poem Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. “I met this orchestra about six years ago and we clicked, so to say, and three years ago I became the chief conductor of the ensemble,” said Alfonso Scarano. “Kun Woo Paik is an exceptional soloist, it is an honour for us to cooperate with him. We were pleased with the reactions of the viewers, they listened carefully all the time although the concert was really long and demanding. A big applause and standing ovations are proof of the fact that even a demanding composition, if masterfully performed, can find its place at a summer festival.”