She's known the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since she first grew out of single digits. PSO Music Director Mariss Jansons and Chang also go way back.
Old friendships are complicated.
In fact, that's how you could characterize each of her playing of the concerto's three movements, respectfully, causing the piece to be a little disjunct. Chang followed an absolutely brilliant rendering of the first movement with a less passionate account of the slow movement and then a finale that was so buoyant that it appeared to forget it was part of a larger work. It was a triptych effect, in a work that Mendelssohn tried so hard to connect by not breaking between movements. But, let's face it, this concerto's first movement is its piece de resistance, and Chang nailed it. Her tone has darkened since the recording and her skill has increased.