Innumerable numbers of CDs continue to appear, yet only a relatively modest percentage of them offers truly adventurous repertoire. All the more reason, then, to place exceptional productions high on the list, and especially when the performance radiates equally special class. These are the two qualities that elevate Made in USA above the ordinary.
We usually hear Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in the orchestral version, and the other three works documented on this album may fairly be called rare birds. Though there is a mitigating circumstance: the excess of Western compositions that, as time progresses, only continues to increase. Anyone seeking to separate the wheat from the chaff faces an enormous task alone.
What this new album primarily offers are compelling, strongly contrasting compositions, thus representing a true melting pot of styles and influences. What they all have in common, however, is the courage without which these pieces would never have been created. Only by departing from the paths laid down and determined by tradition could new musical horizons be opened.
In the CD booklet, the Frankfurt am Main-based American pianist describes what moved her above all during the preparation and recording of this album: to view these pieces with an entirely fresh perspective, unhindered by outside influences. That her ultimate choice for these four works amounted to a difficult decision, but by combining them in such a way that they would reinforce each other in a recital program, and underline the unique 'taste' of each represented composer.
Amy Beach's (1867-1944) Variations on Balkan Themes form the heart and soul of this edition for Huangci. Beach, whose work has been experiencing posthumous rediscovery for some time now (as is the case with so many other female composers).
Beach composed the piece in 1904, without ever having been to the Balkans. The 'tools' for her variation work were provided to her by reverend William W. Sleeper, who, together with a number of other missionaries, had indeed been there and from memory performed several folk melodies originating from the Balkans in Beach's presence on the piano.