Album Review: "10 More Minutes"

I'm on my second listen- they are all so exquisite. I want to keep it on repeat. Each one is my favorite. Jeeyoon is the thread that runs through each of those works (perfectly selected and paced) and illuminates the composer's as well as her most inner longings and desires for the music.

Jeeyoon is the epitome of what an artist should be- not all this grandstanding and posture, just a perfect conduit to another dimension. So many of musicians' interpretations just become showboats for their own prowess and the intimate message inside the music gets buried. She never does that. Her goal, I believe, is more to release the music to speak for itself. That is what I love about her playing..

It is a great offering into the overcrowded world of self indulgent recordings. To be able to hear the work unfettered with extra added emotion and/or flair not written into original 'text' is a real gift to the listener. The music itself is enough- you don't need to add ... That's what she reveals. A purist approach that is so appreciated. Each piece gets to sing on it's own- not one sounds remotely like the other in any way. The pedaling is so pristine in every instance- really shows off the piano as the Queen of all instruments.

I feel like the first three pieces are a gateway into the journey-being gently drawn into another world. Like a feather ... sometimes floating weightlessly down only to be lifted up into this space she is creating. By the time the Brahms concludes, the listener is aurally and emotionally ready for what follows. Brilliant. Selfless.
 

-Susan Kitterman, former Artistic Director from New World Youth Symphony