The first solo album of pianist Cho Seong-jin continued to fly off shelves Wednesday, reflecting Koreans’ feverish interest in the 21-year-old who won one of the classical music world’s greatest piano contests.

According to Universal Music Korea, over 40,000 of the album‘s initial 50,000 copies pressed were sold in Korea in just four days following the album’s Nov. 6 release, prompting the company to place a second order for another 50,000. Locally, a classical music album earns platinum status when it surpasses the 10,000 mark in accumulated sales. 

A Deutsche Grammophon release, it is a live recording of Cho’s performances at the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, held in Warsaw last month, where he won the contest’s highest honor. He became the first Korean to win the competition. 

“Seong-jin Cho -- Chopin Piano Competition, Warsaw 2015” remains the top seller at Kyobo Book Center, Yes24 and other major music stores in Korea.

On Tuesday, the Korean government gave the piano phenom the country’s top honor for young artists, along with eight others from other fields. 


By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)