John Malkovich traveled to South Korea for the first time this week, not to promote a film but to perform a contemporary crossover classical music piece.
The actor will take the stage at Seoul Arts Center on Wednesday evening for Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra by late 20th century Russian composer Alfred Schnittke. It will be the world premiere of a newly interpreted version featuring a literary twist.
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Malkovich will provide narrations, reading parts of Ernesto Sabato‘s novel On Heroes and Tombs to music by the Korean Chamber Orchestra and solo pianist Ksenia Kogan.
“[Ksenia and I] had gone through many ideas, and she particularly liked the Schnittke piano concerto, which I like very much, and made me think of the Sabato book On Hills and Tombs,” Malkovich said during a press rehearsal.
He added that he focused on the book’s section called Report on the Blind because he thought it complemented the music, which “struck me in many ways as paranoiac.”
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The Korea event is not his first time taking part in music projects. “It’s my seventh or eighth work with classical musicians and classical music, and well, in this case, modern classical [music],” the actor said. “I’ve loved the experience, and that’s what really motivates me [to take part in such projects].”
Added Malkovich: “Music has always had a huge influence on me, but it doesn’t always influence what one does in music or even in theater.”
