Pianist Seong-Jin Cho Replaces Denis Matsuev at Carnegie Hall's Vienna Phil Concerts

Tonight, Friday, February 25, pianist Seong-Jin Cho will step in for Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Nézet-Séguin and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

The all-Rachmaninoff program is the first of three performances at Carnegie Hall this weekend — tickets are available for purchase here. 

"Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are deeply grateful to Seong-Jin Cho who agreed to fly from Berlin on very short notice for tonight’s performance," a press statement reads.

Similar to conductor Valery Gergiev, pianist Denis Matsuev is known to have close connections to Russian leadership and publicly endorsed Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. He has been awarded the Russian State Order of Honour, and in 2017 he received the Government of Russia Prize in the sphere of Culture for his International Music Festival in Irkutsk “Stars on the Baikal."

The news of his replacement comes after Russia's recent military invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent political repercussions surrounding Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions. Activists who support Ukraine in this crisis were planning to protest the Carnegie Hall concerts because of Gergiev's close ties to Putin. Not long after, The Vienna Philharmonic and Carnegie release a joint statement announcing the conductor's replacement.

Other organizations around the globe are considering replacing Gergiev, such as Teatro alla Scala and the Munich Philharmonic — unless Gergiev publicly denounces Putin's attacks on Ukraine. Denis Matsuev's schedule is yet to be further affected.

Pianist Seong-Jin Cho is cultivating an impressive international career, at first coming to prominence when he won the first prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. With an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, he performs with orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Tonight's concert will mark his debut with The Vienna Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall orchestral debut.