Few Chinese melodies are as instantly recognizable as “Mo Li Hua” (“Jasmine Flower”). Wanghua Chu realized that familiarity was a challenge: he said he approached the piano work with particular care because the song was so beautiful and so well known. His Jasmine Flower Fantasia invites us to hear it as an intimate Eastern love story. At first, hints of the melody glimmer high above the keyboard; when the tune comes fully into view, it sings quietly in the middle register beneath delicate, drifting figures. Its simple phrases gradually gather warmth and urgency. A sweeping cadenza opens the way to a passionate statement in octaves, before the music turns inward again. Chu keeps the folk melody’s grace and restraint even as he gives it the breadth of a concert fantasia. Its pentatonic contours, finely shaded harmonies, and richly layered piano writing allow a song known to millions to speak with a more private and modern voice.