Song Kang, Lee Jun-young Lead 'Four Hands, Two Sonatas' to New High With 7.9% Rating

tvN's weekend drama "Four Hands Two Sonatas," starring actors Song Kang and Lee Jun-young, is on a steady ratings climb. The series opened at 3.4% and reached 7.9% with its eighth episode, which aired on Sept. 20. That is more than double the premiere figure in just eight weeks.

As the show gains momentum, its use of classical music has drawn attention. Several key scenes between Kang Bi-o (played by Song Kang) and Choi Jung-yo (played by Lee Jun-young) are built around famous pieces.

For Kang Bi-o, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 becomes the piece that pushes him beyond his own limits. Preparing for an international competition, he plans to perform the familiar Concerto No. 3 as his free selection. But his piano teacher, Do Hyun-soo (played by Kim Joo-heon), suggests he take on Concerto No. 2, a work he has always struggled with.

The pressure grows when Kang Bi-o learns that Choi Jung-yo has chosen the same piece for the finals. Going up against him with the same concerto is a hard call, since Kang Bi-o knows Choi Jung-yo's musical instincts well. After long stretches of practice, he masters the piece in his own way and grows as a musician in the process.

For Choi Jung-yo, Saint-Saëns' "Danse Macabre" carries the emotional weight. As a child, he watched his mother die during a competition, and he has lived with stage fright ever since. Preparing a four-hands version of "Danse Macabre" with Kang Bi-o helps brings him back to the piano.

After training with Kang Bi-o, Choi Jung-yo returns to the stage and completes the performance. The same piece appears again nine years later, marking a new chapter in his life. Choi Jung-yo, who had disappeared from public view, enters a conducting competition and leads "Danse Macabre" from the podium, having moved on from being a pianist to becoming a conductor.

Episode 9 of "Four Hands, Two Sonatas" airs on Sept. 26 at 9:10 p.m. KST.