Here is Yoon Jung Han also with the shiny New York Steinway, the same piano as the one used by Amy J. Yang.  She launched into the delightfully humorous Haydn with a sense of purpose. The tempo is very brisk and certainly contemporary and shows of her high level of technical accomplishment. The sound is quite substantial, with mass but without harshness.  Yet, I ask if there is enough jovial humour.  What is the character presented here? Jokes? Silliness? Lightheartedness? What are the words that come to your mind?

In the Chopin Fantasy, Op.49, Han shows off her skills laying down meaty left and the melodic line that defies gravity.  The whirlwind of emotions and colours are well captured, and the soaring notes in G-flat major, just before the middle section in B major is exquisitely woven.  Just exquisite.

The storm just before the code was full of rage, but as she enters Adagio sostenuto, time becomes still. And Han wraps it up elegantly. She really showed off her wide range of emotions in Chopin.

Now, here comes Granados Goyescas: El amor y la muerte. In the opening measures, Han really leans into the piano to extract a very rich, meaty roar. The quiet subsequent section is sorrowful, cold. These are really two different worlds, right next to each other.  The love theme is passionate, and full of ardor.  The atmosphere is haunting, dreamy at times, and Han is perhaps most successful in the three pieces she presented today. There is much drama, and a full range of emotions.  She is really bringing the most out of that instrument as well. The dreadful, haunting end of the piece is full of weight, and moves at just the right pace.  Brilliant.

Ken Iisaka

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