Tina Guo's 2011 release,
The Journey, is a crossover album of a few familiar classical selections and a majority of original pieces by the cellist herself. The Introduction and Polonaise Brillante by
Frédéric Chopin, Le grand tango by
Astor Piazzolla, and the Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (retitled and rearranged here as an electrified rock version, Queen Bee) are the most immediately recognizable, and
Guo's performances are flexible and free, in keeping with her dynamic and changeable persona. But the lion's share of the program is devoted to her own music, and the tracks Winter Star (with an alternate arrangement, Winter Starlight), The Awakening, Lacrimosa, Sunlight, The Journey Home, and Forbidden City all have lavish production and an expansive, nearly cosmic feeling, merging elements of classical, adult contemporary, and world music into tableaux that set dreamy moods, rather than focus on
Guo's technique. Washes and sprays of sound blend with ethereal choirs and synthesizers to produce atmospheric, new age backdrops for
Guo's plaintive melodies, and the bombastic drama of the heavy Forbidden City and brazenly metallic Queen Bee might seem like a throwback to the glory days of progressive rock. In any event, this album is not intended for classical purists but a broader audience, and if playing with a wide range of styles is a risk, it is a calculated one that may pay off for this chameleon-like cellist. ~Blair Sanderson