Violinist Esther Yoo Celebrates Love in New Album Release

“The theme of the album is love, and the reason being is that the core piece on this album is Bernstein’s Serenade, which is inspired by Plato’s Symposium. This is a dialog, a discussion about the philosophical aspects of love.

“Through the symposium, we analyze and reflect on all different types of love. This album, for me, was an exploration of love in all its guises, all the different forms of love, and also drawing on personal experience of the types of love that I’ve experienced in my life. And so, each piece on this album reflects that.”

Yoo recorded the album with the Royal Philharmonic and conductor Long Yu. After the five movements of Bernstein’s Serenade, they recorded a familiar romantic favorite: The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams. As written by the composer on the original score, the work is inspired by the poem of the same name by George Meredith, which contains a description of a bird’s love of its own song and flight. Also written on the score is the fitting subtitle, “A Romance”.

Yoo also added another insight into why she chose The Lark Ascending to accompany her Bernstein centerpiece. “Thinking of what to couple with (the Serenade), somehow things just came along naturally. For me, The Lark Ascending reflects the love of nature and the love of the beauty in existence of natural things, of the bird, or the forest or the lake.

“You can see those things every day, but they’re constantly changing every second. There’s something different happening, and it’s the love and appreciation of that.”

Next on the album, she follows up with a movement from a larger piece. It’s the fourth movement, Adagietto, from Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. It’s been interpreted as a love letter to Alma Schindler, who would later become Mahler’s wife, and because of this, it is still often used to accompany romance in films and media. 

According to Yoo, including the Adagietto was a very interesting musical endeavor, considering the piece is usually performed by an orchestra, and had to be arranged for a chamber ensemble. “It was, I think, the biggest risk I took, to commission a new arrangement of a piece that is so beloved and iconic – kind of untouchable in itself. But I met someone who has a really deep love and passion for this piece and it really opened my eyes to experience the Adagietto in a very different way than I had previously.

Through learning of these intimate details and really getting to know this piece in a way that I hadn’t before, it inspired me to create a more intimate version of the piece. And that’s what led me to think, ‘Oh, maybe a chamber music version would be really nice.’”

Yoo actually released a music video of Mahler’s Adagietto ahead of the album release, which highlights the recording sessions at Henry Wood Hall in London and is available on YouTube. She talks of her experience presenting the new arrangement, by Ian Farrington, to the ensemble.

“I remember going into the recording session for this with a mix of emotions, of being very anxious and excited and nervous. I was actually most curious to see the reactions of the other players, who were all musicians from the RPO, because they have performed the symphony so many times. I think we all started off kind of on the same page with having this anticipation of, ‘how is this going to work?’ But as we were recording, we could really feel this sense of connection with each other, with the piece – real chamber music making.”

Connecting it back to her album’s theme, she goes on to say, “Even in its full format, there are so many messages of love, of sadness, of longing, of it was a very emotionally complex piece.

And I think in this chamber music version, we were able to achieve bringing out, these emotions in a much more intimate way than through the symphony.”

The most obvious choice for the album, according to Yoo, was Edward Elgar’s Salut d’Amour, often translated as “Love’s Greeting”. So iconic and loved for its romanticism, Elgar wrote the music as a gift to his wife, in response to a poem that she gifted him, titled “Love’s Grace”. Because he took her words and set them to song, Yoo mentions how simple but sweet the piece is, and marvels how such a sincere, genuine, deep love can be expressed in such a simple way.

Wrapping things up with a bow is another arrangement by Ian Farrington, from the hit film The Greatest Showman. True to the album’s purpose, the cover of Never Enough showcases a different type of love, one that Yoo calls an unexpected choice.

“It’s a song that I really love, and I had a big emotional reaction to when I first heard it in the movie. Because the message of the song is: there’s no amount of wealth, success or fame that will take over our human need, our desire for human connection, love for others, and the love we constantly are learning to give ourselves. That’s ultimately the most important thing. For me, this piece, out of all the pieces on the album, represents the love for oneself the most,” Yoo explained.

On this subject, Yoo explained that this album, her most personal yet, felt like baring herself to the rest of the world. “It’s a new experience for me. And it’s something that is very exciting. It’s slightly nerve-wracking, but I knew I wanted to do this. I wanted to share more of myself, more of my story, and to just connect with listeners through music, but also through this emotion that we can all relate to.”

You can find Esther Yoo’s album, Love Symposium, on all streaming services, or watch the music videos for both Mahler’s Adagietto and Erixymachus, the third movement of Bernstein’s Serenade, on YouTube. For more information and news on Yoo’s album and upcoming performances, you can visit her website as well. 

Below, you can hear Esther talk about her album, as well as hear her discussion with Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv on their recent concert with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Both were recorded in the studios at Cincinnati Public Radio.