This is a lovely little disc, and Kyung-Wha Chung is a genius, maybe short timewise [45 minutes], but packed full of quality, i was stunned by this disc when i first heard it back in 2006, and that's where i really fell in love with the Chausson work, last year roughly this time, i was extolling this same disc, and the same Chausson work wowed me then [12th June 2011].
Kyung-Wha Chung is South Korean, she's now 64, it's good to hear she's performing again after being out of action for five years with a finger injury, she recorded this disc in 1977, the front cover photo [by Axel Forster] is excellent, a jet black background, which highlights Chung all the more, nice lighting on the face, i love those brown tones.
Again like last time, i found Chausson's Poeme so heavenly, it starts off quiet, the strings appearing out of the mists, the orchestral introduction is full of creative mystic touches [0:00-1:52], the opening solo violin by Chung is like a cadenza [1:53-2:53], mimicking the opening by the orchestra, the opening minutes seem to be long exchanges between the soloist and orchestra, and the 'second' cadenza by Chung [3:43-4:57], which shows a greater sense of virtuosity about it, expanding on the first cadenza, developing into quite a frenzy at the end, and when the orchestra comes in, there's some passionate forte culminations [5:12-5:29], and then after the violin and orchestra stop taking turns, but rather play together, i love the way Chausson slow builds up and up the violin solo into a passionate froth [7:44-8:13], later the violin plays high in the treble register, nice and quiet, but sweet and passionate too [10:42-11:22], Chung handles this superbly, in the background you can hear a muted harp playing [11:58+], it's a lovely little touch, and what a great orchestral instrument the harp can be when employed creatively, towards the end there's a strong rousing forte / finale [13:42-14:01], bringing the main tune out loud and clear, the closing pages are very creative, and instead of something loud and boisterous to finish on, it's exactly the opposite, high treble trills from Chung [14:20-14:32], done with real compassion, and later more [15:14+], i love the way Chung plays so high [15:43-16:13], like a small bird twittering in the treetops, it's a gorgeous piece, and 'Poeme' [instead of poem, ok i know Chausson is French] is a very apt name to call it, there's a lovely exotic women's fragrance from Lancome which is equally gorgeous, i think of the Chausson piece as an exotic perfume wafting on the breeze.
Here's Oliver Charlier playing Chausson's Poeme on YouTube.
