Han-Na Chang carries on a cello "Romance"

Han-Na Chang is a 20-something cellist from Korea who has just released her seventh recording. After several years of immersing herself in the technically and emotionally challenging Russian repertoire, Chang returns to the soft, rich colors of the Romantic era on her new release, "Romance."

This is an eclectic mix of several rarely performed jewels for cello and orchestra. The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia accompanies Chang beautifully. The members of this ensemble are excellent listeners, intently following Chang's lead, making the music that much more provocative.

In addition to focusing on neglected works for cello and orchestra, Han-Na Chang and conductor Antonio Pappano carefully assembled a program that displays a contrast between the grandiose and the intimate.

The flamboyant Cello Concerto in D minor by Edouard Lalo represents the showier side of the instrument. The first movement opens majestically, with the orchestra demanding our attention as the cello launches into its powerful solo in the lower register.

Lalo struck gold when he mined his Spanish ancestry to produce the Symphonie Espagnole in 1873. Four years later, he capitalized on that success when he wrote this cello concerto.

The Spanish element comes to light in the second section of the middle movement and again in the middle of the finale. Three minutes into the finale, Chang leads the orchestra into a lively musical fiesta. As the cello bounces its way through a joyous melody, the orchestra transforms into a Mexican mariachi band, creating an infectious party atmosphere.

To composer Antonin Dvorak, the cello was an instrument of musical extremes. "High up it sounds nasal," he said, "and low down it growls."

Dvorak asks the instrument to display these extremes in his little-known Rondo in G minor, and Han-Na Chang revels in the opportunity. A rondo is built on a principal theme that keeps recurring in an alternate and contrasting form. Dvorak has a ball reinventing the central idea.

In his Rondo the cello is the narrator, telling a story that alternates between hushed secrets and high adventure. Chang is a captivating story-teller who keeps you on the edge of your seat as she easily glides through soft, luxurious melodies to bold, expressive musical fireworks.

The final track on "Romance" represents the instrument's intimate qualities. It was written by cellist extraordinaire Pablo Casals. In fact, all of the pieces on this new recording belonged to the repertoire of this 20th-century cello ambassador.

Casals was a Catalonian who not only set new standards as a soloist, but also as a chamber player. He originally composed his "Song of the Birds" for an orchestra of cellos.

Chang plays his arrangement for cello and other strings -- a setting that effectively brings out the haunting quality of the Catalan folk song upon which Casals based the piece. Chang's smooth, lyrical phrasing and delicate vibrato enhance its mysterious quality.

When Han-Na Chang performs, the emotional impact is apparent in the sound of her cello and the look of her face. As she gives life to the music, she expels little puffs of air from her mouth. As the mood changes, she raises her eyebrows as if to give the music more space to ebb and flow.

Her eyes are closed as she feels her way through the composition, allowing herself and her audience to embrace the music to the fullest.

If you really want to indulge yourself, try closing your eyes when you listen to Han-Na Chang's new collection of little-known cello works from the Romantic era. You'll be rewarded by Chang's uncanny ability to express a broad range of emotions, as well as a rush of sumptuous musical colors.

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