Erwartung

PROGRAM

• Erwartung, Op. 17 —  Arnold Schönberg

• Il dolce suono from Lucia di Lammermoor —  Gaetano Donizetti

Erwartung “expectation”—takes us into a psychological world suspended between memory and reality, desire and fear. Arnold Schönberg’s dramatic monodrama follows a woman moving through darkness, drawing the audience not simply into a story, but into an unstable landscape of thought, memory, and perception.

For PGVIS 2026, artists from Seoul National University and Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music come together to create a new collaborative interpretation of Erwartung, bringing it into dialogue with Gaetano Donizetti’s iconic mad scene, Il dolce suono from Lucia di Lammermoor. Interweaving these two works, the performance explores the fragile boundaries between ecstasy, anxiety, loss, and the unraveling of the mind.

The soprano’s voice works in tandem with the expressive movement of a contemporary dancer, giving physical form to the inner turmoil of the characters. A distinctive chamber ensemble combines Western classical instruments with the resonant textures of traditional Korean instruments, reimagining these familiar works through a contemporary acoustic and theatrical language.

As the opening performance of PGVIS 2026, a symposium devoted to Curiosity and Courage, Erwartung becomes an invitation to enter the unknown. To expect is to stand before something that has not yet happened; to be curious is to enter it; and to be courageous is to continue without knowing exactly where it will lead. Through the meeting of different musical traditions and artistic perspectives, Erwartung invites us to listen, question, and discover what can emerge from the space between the familiar and the unknown.

PERFORMERS

PGVIM

Arthitiya Sitthidech (Soprano)

Kongpop Khamchuanchuen (Clarinet)

Jinhyeok Park (Piano)

SNU

Lee Eunsam (Performer)

Suho Lee (Daegeum)

Dohyun Ock (Piri)

Yeonu Lee (Haegeum)

Yoolim Lee (Jeongga)

Chaewon Park (Geomungo)