"My tour of Asia with the Philharmonic, an orchestra of friends and whom I love".

When he talks about music, in that perfect, stamped Italian of his, only slightly shadowed by a gentle Korean chant, Maestro Chung does not use technical or even professional terms. He does not quote composers or repertoire, he does not concretise projects; he does nothing that usually pertains to the role of a conductor. How strange. A singular character, he has just returned to Milan to prepare the next tour of the Filarmonica della Scala in Asia, with dates from 17 to 28 September, together with the two prestigious pianists Nikolaj Luganskij and Mao Fujita. We look forward to hearing more about him, too, of his upcoming Milanese strategies, as he will take the throne of music director at the theatre from 2027. And also about the connections with his roots, as he is increasingly seen engaged in cultural and artistic strategies with Korea. Thin eyes, the ever-present soft blue yoga outfit (never seen him wearing a tie) Chung appears anchored in a humanistic, soothing, luminous lexicon: friendship and friends are the recurring repetitions, to describe his relationship with the orchestra. She seems to come first.

"Yes, with the orchestra members they tell me I talk too much. It's true. It happens regularly, in all rehearsals. But now that I'm off the podium, I don't really know what to say. Sly, captivating, you have to raise your voice and play along. "This tour in Korea, but also in Japan, has a very special value for me. Because I feel like I'm inviting my closest friends home. Almost as if it were a private affair, an exchange of friendship. Of course it has a very strong value for me every time I return to my homeland, to make music where I was born. But what makes the occasion special is the presence of the Filarmonica della Scala: they are my friends, we have known each other for thirty-six years, and I feel them above all as the dearest. Because from the very beginning they understood me, as a musician and as a man'.

One hundred dear friends, Chung points out. It is not often that one can count such a large number. And he smiles. He is sincere; his does not sound like lip service. Not even of strategy. 'It is very rare to conduct an orchestra and be friends with it at the same time. Maybe it happens to have a good professional relationship, to obtain good results, to be appreciated together by the listener. But between pleasure and love there is a big difference. With the Philharmonic there is love'. We seem to hear Carlo Maria Giulini, one of the fathers of the Philharmonic, expressing himself exactly like that in recent years, astral, almost sanctified. Myung-Whun Chung, born under the sign of Aquarius, on 22 January 1953, and who in his native Seoul they correctly call the inverse, Chung Myung-Whun, was Giulini's assistant, in Los Angeles, when the conductor was principal conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra: 'Capable of transforming it from a spectacular Hollywood ensemble to a ductile singing ensemble'. So explains the then pupil. Still devoted. Those were his first experiences on the podium. It was 1977. And that elf, with typical oriental features, had been chosen with acumen by the Maestro based in Milan, who had conducted Callas in Visconti's 'Traviata'. He had had no doubt in favouring over many the personality of the 24-year-old oriental, with studies at the Juilliard in New York. Still very much a pianist, by the way, then. As the annals of the prestigious Moscow Tchaikovsky Prize confirm, in 1974 he came second. With gritted teeth, because cultural protectionism did not allow a winner who was not Russian.

"Somehow it was Giulini who brought me to La Scala and I still cherish his teaching. Precisely for that free measure that infected. He used to tell me: find your own way. Nothing else. But at the same time, while preparing the orchestra, he showed that he never put art above human quality. It seems impossible, but finding a balance between profession and life ethic is fundamental'. Like pieces of a preordained mosaic, the two musicians' far-flung paths seem to converge in the Filarmonica's current La Scala footprints. As of January 2023, Chung was strongly desired as conductor emeritus. In advance of his recent appointment as music director of the theatre, whose reins he will officially take from 2027. Already by the next season opening, on 7 December 2026, he is scheduled to take the helm on the podium, conducting Verdi's long-awaited new 'Otello'. "Verdi is at the top of my plans for La Scala. Although the word 'projects' no longer belongs to me, I leave it to others: for me what counts is doing things well. And precisely in the last 20 years, thanks also to my friendship with Fortunato Ortombina, I have developed a great love for Giuseppe Verdi'.

First in Venice and now at La Scala, Superintendent Ortombina has been Chung's great champion. At La Fenice he has entrusted him with the latest openings, many concerts, and a celebrated recent tour of Korea. And Ortombina was also among the guests of honour at the ribbon cutting of the brand new concert hall in Busan on 21 June. In the new pole of Korean music, yet another gem of a country that churns out pianists, singers, orchestras and theatres at full speed.