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Hollywood Romance by pianist Yoonie Han

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Hollywood Romance

Hollywood Romance (Universal Music)

Yoonie Han’s new album

Pianist Yoonie Han (yooniehan.com) is an award-winning concert pianist, currently living in Hong Kong. She first caught my attention at a piano recital in New York in April 2019.

I greatly enjoyed Ms. Han’s recital, and took home a signed copy of her Steinway & Sons CD Le Rossignol Eperdu. So when she told me about her new album Hollywood Romance, I couldn’t wait to explore it.

Hollywood Romance (Universal Music, Nov. 2020)

Hollywood Romance consists of 13 tracks of romantic-style classical music used in Hollywood movies. Some tracks are original piano works. Others are piano transcriptions or arrangements.

This is beautiful classical piano, played by an accomplished pianist. The recording quality is excellent, and the performances lush. Here are some tracks that caught my attention.

Rachmaninoff: Andante Cantabile (Paganini Rhapsody var. 18)

This concerto-like work for piano and orchestra is used in various movies, most notably Somewhere In Time (1980). It is one of Rachmaninoff’s most filmic compositions.

Ms. Han’s arrangement is clean and and convincing. Her interpretation is warm, conservatively paced and characteristically luminous. She stretches Rachmaninoff’s crescendos without breaking them, and closes with serene beauty. Here is video from the recording sessions.

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

Many pianists play this faster than Gershwin’s molto moderato, but not Ms. Han. Her judicious pacing and restrained crescendos evoke grandeur that I am not used to from Gershwin. The resulting musical experience feels somehow wider and deeper, more movie-like.

Puccini: O Mio Babbino Caro

Before listening to this track, I watched soprano Elisabeth Nefeli sing the aria. That was not a good way to approach this piano arrangement! Ms. Han weaves an elegant tapestry of arpeggios, and Puccini’s soulful melody flows and ebbs under her hands as it should. But Puccini fans waiting to hear heart-wrenching soprano high kicks may be disappointed, because a piano just can’t do that kind of thing.

Schubert/Liszt: Ständchen (Schwanengesang D 957 No 4)

Ms. Han’s liquid touch and Schubert’s flowing melodies work well together. Hear this on YouTube at Liszt: Schwanengesang, S. 560 (after F. Schubert).

Where to get Hollywood Romance (links from the artist)

The album is available as a CD overseas, but not in US markets at this time.

[Roving Pianist writes independent reviews and has no financial stake in sales of this product]

Gloriosa Trio Recital at Central Park West

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Gloriosa Trio with Karen LeFrak and the Gloriosa Trio CD

Gloriosa Trio with Karen LeFrak and the Gloriosa Trio CD

On Tuesday October 15th, 2019, the Gloriosa Trio performed at Robin Shoemaker’s Central Park West salon.

The Trio comprises pianist Yoonie Han, violinist Eric Silberger and cellist Kevin Bate. They recently released their first CD (Centaur Records).

The program consisted of various items by Gabriel Fauré including 3 of Gloriosa Trio’s own arrangements. It also included a work by New York composer Karen LeFrak, who was present at the concert.

Fauré: Sicilienne Op. 78

Cellist Kevin Bate

Kevin Bate in action

This piece was originally written for piano and cello. It was later orchestrated by the composer and became part of his Pelléas et Mélisande suite. Various other arrangements exist, including one by Gloriosa Trio.

The Trio played their own cello-forward arrangement. Piano and violin weaved a poignant atmosphere around Kevin Bate’s strong but tender cello. In this arrangement the violin picked up some phrases that the piano carries in the original, adding a touch more color and sweetness.

LeFrak: Gloriosa

Composer Karen LeFrak with the Trio after they performed Gloriosa

When musicians play your work: Karen LeFrak with Gloriosa Trio

Karen LeFrak’s Gloriosa premiered in 2015. It shares some of the wistful atmosphere of Fauré’s century-old music, making for a good program fit.

The work itself was evocative and at times playful, worthy of further listening.

The composer and musicians embraced after playing her composition.

Fauré: Pavane, Op 50

Fauré’s Pavane seemed tailor-made for Gloriosa Trio. It is sad but not tragic. It is also exquisitely French, beautiful to the edge of sentimentality.

At first the pizzicato-like piano accompaniment felt a little strong. But I came to realize that those staccato arpeggios were the heartbeat of this delightful oeuvre. They bring tension and motion to this otherwise soft and gentle work.

Fauré: Trois mélodies Op. 7 No. 1 “Après un Rêve”

This is a short and beautiful song, arranged by Gloriosa Trio for their instruments. For comparison, here is a link to the vocal version as sung by New Zealand fully lyric soprano Kiri Te Kanawa.

Fauré: Piano Trio Op. 120

The Piano Trio was the only Fauré composition of the evening that the Gloriosa Trio had not themselves arranged. It is a late work, completed in 1923.

Compared with the music played earlier, the Piano Trio was relatively ascetic. This reviewer found it to be pleasant but a little diffuse. It is evidently a composition that requires repeat listening.

Gloriosa Trio

Gloriosa Trio is an excellent piano trio, despite their relatively infrequent collaborations. Their concert at the Shoemaker Salon was delectable, and Fauré’s music seemed tailor-made for them. Their arrangements were clean and true to the original, to the point that they could have been written by composer himself.

We have seen pianist Yoonie Han at the Shoemaker salon before, see this review.

Kevin Bate, Yoonie Han, Robin Shoemaker, Eric Silberger 10/15/2019

Pianist Yoonie Han Graces New York Salon

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Yoonie Han at Central Park West April 2019

Yoonie Han at the Shoemaker Salon, NYC

On Thursday April 11th 2019, pianist Yoonie Han gave a recital at the Shoemaker Salon on Central Park West, NYC.

The program was anchored by the work of French composer Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) and ranged across the romantic era from late 19th century to mid-20th.

Ms. Han introduced each work to us before playing, which the audience always appreciates.

Gluck/Friedman: Melodié from Orfeo ed Euridice

After just a few phrases of Mélodie it was obvious that Yoonie Han has something unique. Her fluency and refined pacing touch the edge of perfection and tug at the heart throughout this wistfully beautiful work.

Hahn: Le Rossignol éperdu (selections)

Stylistically French, Le Rossignol éperdue‘s impressionistic aura made it feel more like a predecessor to Debussy than the successor that it is.

Ms. Han played just 16 of its 53 poèmes due to the size of the work. I asked later how she chose which to play. Mostly, she selected the poèmes that she felt she played best.

Granados: Goyescas – El Amor y la Muerte

Yoonie Han with Robin Shoemaker

Yoonie with host Robin

After Hahn’s dreamy and occasionally cloying work, Granados’ more lugubrian fare with its Liszt-ian progressions was a well-chosen successor. Here Ms. Han had room to show more of her expressive range.

Encore: Clair de Lune (Debussy)

Composed in 1890, Debussy’s work was the earliest of the entire concert, yet it encapsulated our entire evening with Yoonie Han: reflective, evocative and beautifully delivered, but all too short.

Yoonie Han’s New CD

After the recital I purchased Yoonie Han’s new CD on the Steinway and Sons label. It contains the full cycle of Le Rossignol éperdue, only the second recording ever to do so.

When Ms. Han went to autograph her CD, it was difficult to find a place on the box. I suggest to Steinway and Sons that there should always be a place for the artist to write. After all, a CD is insufficient as a memento of a live performance. Fans want a little bit of the artist herself.