Lee Archive

ECLIPSE = Chamber music by Mischa Zupko – Sang Mee Lee (v.)/ Wendy Warner (c.)/ Mischa Zupko (p.) – Cedille

ECLIPSE = Chamber music by Mischa Zupko – Sang Mee Lee (v.)/ Wendy Warner (c.)/ Mischa Zupko (p.) – Cedille

A wonderment of shades of color infatuate this fascinating composer’s music. “ECLIPSE – Chamber music by Mischa Zupko” = Rising; Fallen; From Twilight; Eclipse; Nebula; Shades of Grey; Love Obsession – Sang Mee Lee, violin/ Wendy Warner, cello/ Mischa Zupko, piano – Cedille CDR 90000 168, 67:45 [Distr. by Naxos] ***1/2: This is my first encounter with the music of Chicago composer Mischa Zupko, and the experience has been, overall, an enticing one. Of course, here the scope is rather limited in the restrictive but always engaging piano trio format, and is does allow one to explore the creative impulses of a composer as he or she traverses a single medium. Altogether, as a summary, I must say that I find the music rather muscular, dark, hard-hitting in its use of many singular melodic elements and repetitive motives, with a fine sense of coloration and dramatic impulse. I’ll leave it to you to explore the “meanings” behind the titled pieces, as such things are interesting from the standpoint of what initially inspires the composer, but are often tricky to duplicate in a listener’s own perceptions. (We certainly hear—or see—the sunrise in Strauss’s Zarathustra, but do we really hear the antics […]

“Works for Violin & Orchestra” = Music by TCHAIKOVSKY – Moonkyung Lee, v./London Sym. Orch./ Miran Vaupoticthe – Navona

“Works for Violin & Orchestra” = Music by TCHAIKOVSKY – Moonkyung Lee, v./London Sym. Orch./ Miran Vaupoticthe – Navona

“Works for Violin & Orchestra” = Music by TCHAIKOVSKY – Moonkyung Lee, v./London Sym. Orch./ Miran Vaupoticthe – Navona CD NV 6079, 57:40 (2/10/17) * 1/2: Excellent violin performances but with a mediocre recording. Navona Records has given us a very fine performance marred by a substandard recording. Soloist Moonkyung Lee gives her all in an enthralling violin performance with the London Symphony under the baton of Miran Vaupotic. Ms. Lee performs extensively across Europe, the United States, and Korea. She has performed under the baton of Maxim Shostakovich, with Mischa Maisky on Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Austrian composer Ignaz Pleyel. She has studied at New England Conservatory, Yale University, and New York University. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Seoul. I very much like her interpretation of this familiar Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, but the recording, in a word, (or three), is not very good. High frequencies seem constricted, blunting the sonorities of the violin and the rest of the orchestra. Frankly, I’ve heard recordings from the fifties that far exceed the quality of this disc. It’s a disappointment because the […]

Seunghee Lee, “Embrace” – music for clarinet and piano – Seunghee Lee, clar./Evan Solomon, p. – Summit

Seunghee Lee, “Embrace” – music for clarinet and piano – Seunghee Lee, clar./Evan Solomon, p. – Summit

Seunghee Lee, “Embrace” – music for clarinet and piano [TrackList follows] – Seunghee Lee, clar./Evan Solomon, p. – Summit DCD577, TT: 50:26, (11/08/11) ***: Lovely and mostly rewarding collection of “easy listening” clarinet. Korean born Seunghee Lee is a very refined and talented artist with a pleasant tone and facile technique. There is much to admire in her playing and in looking at her training resume this is not a surprise. Lee grew up in Chicago and studied with many of the country’s great clarinetists including David Shifrin, Charles Neidich, George Silfies and John Bruce Yeh, to name but a few. Her accompanist Evan Solomon has a similar pedigree, having accompanied violinist Sarah Chang. Solomon also has a degree in mathematics and has served on the accompanying staff of the Julliard School since 1986. Ms. Lee has several other recordings out that I think are well worth investigating. As I said, her playing is lovely and rather “recital ready” as her tone and technique are very fine indeed and chamber music focused. This collection is made up of several short snippets of lovely and mostly non-flashy melodies from a variety of sources. These include many easily recognized tunes such as […]