'Classic Revolution' rehearsal: 'Nothing to fix, even on the first run'

Festival runs Saturday through Sept. 4 under theme of 'roots'

Folk music's origins weave together a fractured age

'Art is humanity's passport — it must be accepted everywhere'

Violinist Leonidas Kavakos, violist Antoine Tamestit, pianist and conductor Kim Sun-wook, and cellist Kian Soltani rehearse for Classic Revolution. [Lotte Concert Hall]

The first rehearsal brought not tension or argument but laughter. The third movement of Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 2 filled the room as violinist Leonidas Kavakos, violist Antoine Tamestit, pianist and conductor Kim Sun-wook, and cellist Kian Soltani played together for the first time. Four distinguished soloists absorbed one another like sponges from the very first phrase. After a short passage, Kavakos spoke up.

"The reason rubato actually helps is that there are moments where the music asks for more attention, so you go a little slower. Let's look again at measure 73, or 478 in the middle."

A small adjustment — a subtle shift in nuance — and the young masters instantly produced a different sound. A few words, a glance, a shared smile, and the rehearsal reached what felt like perfect density. It was a rehearsal for the chamber music concert on the third day of Classic Revolution 2026, with Kavakos serving as artistic director.

Meeting with reporters on Wednesday, Kavakos said he was pleased: "Even though it was our first rehearsal, there was almost nothing that needed fixing."

Now in his second year leading Classic Revolution, Kavakos personally shaped the festival's theme, performer lineup and program. Last year, under the theme of "coexistence," the festival traced the contrast between classical tradition and modern anguish from Bach to Shostakovich. This year, he turned toward "roots."

He chose that theme because he sees the origins of classical music as reaching back to the folk music of each region. "Europe is geographically vast, with many languages and cultures coexisting," Kavakos said. "Folk music is born from the customs and emotions of the land, and it carries a power that anyone can easily connect with."

At the heart of this festival is an exploration of how composers from Haydn and Mozart through Beethoven to Brahms and Bartók wove their own identities and folk idioms into their music. Kavakos said he learned folk music by ear through his grandfather and father, both folk violinists. "Learning by ear is a powerful form of training in folk music," he said. "Folk musicians — string players in particular — who learn music this way almost never play out of tune."

Classical composers such as Brahms and Dvořák drew richly on folk music in their own musical worlds. Kavakos frames that as "connection." "We are living in a time full of hostility and tension between nations and politicians, yet we are by nature people who like to come together," he said. "It is a very powerful message to remember that the further back you trace your roots, the more you discover what you have in common."

Artistic Director Leonidas Kavakos [Lotte Concert Hall]

As artistic director, Kavakos not only oversaw the programming of every piece but will also take the stage nearly every day of the festival, missing only one. From Brahms' piano concerto to the violin concerto and double concerto, he will bring to the stage as a performer the idea of "roots" that has run through his entire life.

His trust in his fellow musicians runs deep. He reached out to violist Antoine Tamestit, with whom he has collaborated for more than 20 years, as well as to pianist Kim Sun-wook and cellist Kian Soltani. "The musicians performing at this festival are not people who simply wait around for my call," he said. "They are the finest performers of this era, and I was fortunate to be able to work with them. Chamber music is a microcosm of society — when musicians with different personalities listen to one another with open minds, a heavenly chemistry is created."

Classic Revolution opens Saturday with a performance by conductor Andrei Boreyko, the Korea National Symphony Orchestra and Soltani at Lotte Concert Hall, and will meet audiences across seven concerts in total. Kavakos will appear in multiple roles — two chamber concerts, a duo recital, a concerto performance with the Gyeonggi Philharmonic conducted by Kim, and a turn on the podium as conductor.

"What we are trying to do is make music speak with one voice, without forcing it," Kavakos said. "I want to show, without straining to be open-minded, that there is more connecting us than dividing us."

"Art is like a passport for humanity. Just as a passport lets you go anywhere and be welcomed by anyone, I believe art must be the same. This festival contains pieces I love. As a musician, I want to be part of that stage too."

shee@heraldcorp.com