

Haochen has not released any studio recordings. The only thing I was able to find was one disc of his performances from the Cliburn competition featuring Stravinsky's Petrushka Suite, Chopin's Op.28 Preludes, some Liszt and a contemporary piece. Here is a 30-minute television show from Israel where he is interviewed in English and performs Liszt's Liebestraume, the third movement of Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7 and Schumann's Traumerei (There is also a clip of a Mozart concerto from the Cliburn). This is a clip of Haochen tearing up the first movement of Prokofiev's second concerto at the Cliburn. There are several other performances available on Youtube.
Haochen seems to me to be a very intriguing but not quite fully realized prospect. What makes him intriguing is that he seems to have started in music from an unusual place--not romantic sentimentality but some kind of dry hyper-intellectualism. I pointed out the similarities with Glenn Gould in the "Surprise in Texas" thread. He has a tendancy to play literally and to bring out the percussive nature of the keyboard. But the Gould in him is not quite as pronounced or fleet as the original, and it seems to have been overlayed with its antithesis: a well-rounded, liberal, broadly-appreciative musical education. Nobody will ever say this is a bad thing, but I wonder if in this case the established norms of musical taste might have stifled what would have been a more interesting musical personality. Haochen seems to gravitate towards oblique, off-beat works safely contained within the standard piano literature such as the Petrushka Suite, Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody, Gaspard de la Nuit, or Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasie.

This is the album mentioned above. The other works he performed at the 2009 Cliburn are Beethoven's Op. 110 Sonata, Chopin's Polonaise-Fantaisie, Brahm's Variation and Fugue on a Theme by Handel Op. 24 (some 26 minutes, I don't think I've ever heard this), and Gaspard de la Nuit. As well as two concertos. The requirements for the Cliburn are insane. One day I will find copies of these other performances--or maybe just download them like the rest of society..
Haochen's Petrushka Suite is very good. It is rhythmically precise and intensely controlled. The level of control here seems to leave bare the basic absurdity of the work. Essentially devoid of sentimentality, this work plays to Haochen's inclination towards intellectual pianism, although he also has a romantic mode.
The Chopin Preludes are more mixed. This is definitely an ambitious choice for a 19-year-old pianist, especially given the range of other works Haochen prepared for the competition. I already criticized his No. 16 Presto con fuoco, which was featured in "Surprise in Texas." He seems to be trying to retain digital clarity in the right hand at the expense of expressivity, and the left hand is somewhat stiff. Others, such as the thunderous No. 22 or the tempestuous No. 8, also suffer from over-control. In some places, you get some unexpected insight, such as the detail in the left hand of No. 3 or the sparkle in the right of No. 10. But this set leaves little impression except that of competence. It is technically proficient and tastefully articulated, but sounds a little bit like maybe your favorite 5 performances of the Preludes blended by a computer algorithm, their individuality ironed into a flat, even surface. Some of this probably has to do with Haochen's youth--the Preludes contain a infinite trove of tints and shades of emotion, which no 19-year-old has had time enough to experience and identify with. I have found the same thing in some of Haochen's other perfomances: he tends to slow down and sing main lines in the exact same way to convey "emotion." Either age and experience will help him fill out and qualify what "emotion" means, or he should just stick to being a cerebral, intellectually-driven interpreter a la Gould.
The contemporary work "White Lies for Lomax" by Mason Bates (composer in residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) is an upbeat jazz-inspired work with a dotted rhythm and interesting trailing repetitions in the upper register. Haochen plays it extremely well, if slightly impersonally. In the Spanish Rhapsody, you get more of the same mix of literality and well-coached taste. Individually, Haochen's performances are at a very high level. But after spending some time with him, you want him to choose a direction, to stop straddling the fence.
It will be very interesting to see how he develops.