Spring Waltz 봄의 왈츠

Completed the Korean drama "Spring Waltz" in 2 days, over the weekend. The series is simply enjoyable. Glad that it has a happy ending. Spring Waltz is the fourth and final installment of Yoon Suk-ho's season drama series - following Autumn Fairy Tale, Winter Sonata and Summer Scent. It's great to be watching fresh faces on the Korean drama scene! For Spring Waltz the 4 leads are Han Hyo-ju, Seo Do-young, Daniel Henney, Lee So-yeon. Daniel Henney is a familiar face - having acted in "My Lovely Samsoon".

"If you truly love him….if you genuinely miss him, someday you can meet and love him again…. Just like us playing a hide and seek during our childhood days,…. no matter how deep he hides himself from the world, and disappear from my sight, he who hides shall be somewhere out there…..always be waiting for me, the tagger. Regardless of how often failing to catch or missing each other’s ways, at the end of the day, your most earnest desire and pray shall lead you to him……only to meet and love again."

This is a story of two wounded hearts that fall in love with each other, heal each other and later forgive each other. Underlying their love are the shared memories of their childhood when they first met. Their dramatic love begins unfolding when the two – stouthearted rolled-rice seller Eun-young (played by Han Hyo-ju) and famous pianist Jae-ha (played by Seo Do-young) – accidentally run into each other on a train in Austria after Eun-young wins a grand prize and a trip to the country at an industrial art exhibition. But Jae-ha has no idea that the unabashed girl from South Korea whom he meets on the train is the love of his childhood, the beautiful Eun-young from a remote island who brought a warm spring into his frozen heart. Their destined love undergoes a test when Philip (Daniel Henney), Jae-ha’s manager, and Yi-na (Lee So-Yeon), who claims Jae-ha to be her childhood sweetheart, come into their lives.

Adding to the spellbinding and heart-moving love story of Eun-young and Jae-ha is the scenic backdrop of Austria, the homeland of waltz, and the picturesque landscape of Namdo Island on Korea’s southern coast. The shootings of the series have taken place around well-known tourist spots such as Hallstatt and Salzburg (in Austria). It certainly brings back memories of these places I have visited in 1997 esp Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds).



Seo Do-young 서도영 as Yoon Jae-ha (Chris Y.) 윤재하
Jaeha is a talented classical pianist of the next generation who has been closely watched with deep interests and concerns by Koreans since he won a prize in a famous concert. Even though he was brought up in a rich and enviable family under his father who is a foreign diplomat, Jaeha is a lonely person having only one friend because of his eccentric and particular personality. He is a well-mannered and dutiful son to his parents and never harms others, but his piano melody always sounds sad. He is hidden in a veil showing his true feelings only to his best friend and manager, Phillip. He is a sad person keeping the secrets of the past that nobody knows although he has a charismatic personality and wonderful environment.

Han Hyo Joo 한효주 as Park Eun-young 박은영
Eun-young is a diligent person who works at her adoptive mother’s gimbap (Korean rolled rice) house in the daytime and sells homemade accessories and clothes at her street stand at night. Even though she could not finish her studies, she is a talented person who is good with her hands and is to be able to win the grand prize in a handicraft contest open to the public. She never looses her smile nor her dashing spirit although she lives in poverty. She has an opportunity to visit Austria from her prize winning in the handicraft contest and meets Phillip and Jaeha by fate. Eun-young who does not know of this ironic fate deeply misses Suho from her childhood.

Daniel Henney as Phillip 필립 He is the only friend as well as the global manager of Yoon Jaeha. He was born to Austrian father and Korean mother and was expected to become a promising musician during his childhood. He plays the piano, the cello, the guitar, etc. Even though there are no musical instruments that he cannot play, he gave up playing music instruments. Instead, he decided to pursue his dream of a musician by becoming the manager of Jaeha who Phillip acknowledges as being a true musical genius. He is not only a considerate and warmhearted person who kindly understands Jae-Ha’s fretful personality but also is a romantic. Phillip is in love with Eun-young and despite knowing that she loves Jaeha, he chooses to stay by her side.

Lee So Yeon 이소연 as Song In-na 송이나
She is a capable career woman who started her career from the bottom and became the director of the planning department in a leading classical record and concert planning company by her own ability even though the company is owned by her parents. Inna is a perfect woman with remarkable beauty, wonderful background, and outstanding ability, but there is only one thing that she earnestly desires for. It is Jaeha who played the piano with her during her childhood. She has exceptionally liked Jaeha ever since her childhood; thus, she gave up playing the piano and left for Canada to find Jaeha after he left Korea. She has a reckless personality to do so. However, she could not find Jaeha but completed her study in Art Business in Canada. She voluntarily tries to promote Jaeha’s debut in Korea after she happened to see an article of Jaeha activeness in Austria.