The Afternoon Concerts at the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) have wrapped up. The Elisabeth Competition is on the horizon. Reason enough to give Thursday, April 23rd's concert an extra boost. Bart Vande Voorde, press officer for the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, was proud to introduce two of the 66 cellists who will participate in the Elisabeth Cello Competition between May 4th and June 10th.
The two are completely different personalities. Michael Song cuts an impressive figure, impeccably dressed in black and brown—both his 1723 Domenico Montagnana and his shoes. He radiates seriousness and concentration. Depth and control characterize his playing. This was evident in the Ballade Op. 3, composed by Josef Suk before fate transformed his fiery musical dialectic into reflection.
It was a pleasure to hear how Song built the melody into a lively dialogue with pianist Katsura Mizumoto. This Japanese pianist studied in Frankfurt, built a reputation as a soloist and chamber musician, and teaches at the Brussels Conservatorium and the Waterloo Music Chapel, where Song has been an artist in residence since 2023. Song's thoughtful approach came into its own in Debussy's Cello Sonata. It suited him perfectly, with its hazy, searching melody that gradually took shape and was beautifully rendered. And the pizzicati only heightened the charm. A delightful singing "Romance" by Balakirev and a not overly dramatic "Pezzo Capriccioso" by Tchaikovsky confirmed the traditional direction the Canadian was taking, broken only by a spirited performance of Webern's early "Drei Kleine Stücke".
Andrew Byun's repertoire heavily favors contemporary solo cello works: Crumb, Hindemith, Ligeti, Penderecki, Gaspar Cassadó… In early April, he performed Henri Dutilleux's Cello Concerto "Tout un monde lointain" for MuCH. At the MIM, he opened with Kaija Saariaho's "Lullaby." You either love it or you don't, but I confess the appeal that this Finnish spectralist, who passed away in 2023, exerts on so many escapes me. Still, props to the bow technique of this spirited South Korean who's never at a loss, set on his path by recordings of Jacqueline du Pré, studied with Lyn Harrell and Gary Hoffman, and has been residing at the Chapelle since 2025.
That said, he continued with Suk's "Ballade" and the first movement of Leopold Hofmann's Cello Concerto. The sound of his 1690 Chiaffredo Cappa is more pronounced and hits you more directly. The Cello Sonata by Boccherini, which they performed together, offered a chance to compare Song's "nobility, poise and assurance" with what the leading monthly journal "The Strad" described as Byun's "electricifying energy".
Choose between them? Preferably not. That's the jury's job, which includes well-known names like Roel Dieltiens, Marie Hallynck, Anne Gastinel… Fun fact: Byun was already sporting gleaming black patent leather shoes, as we've come to expect from the greatest virtuosos! Guy Van Waas pointed out to the well-attended audience, including a school from Ixelles, the first of 26 concerts in the 2026-2027 season with Lorenzo Gatto & Friends on October 15th.
