In
December violinist Ray Chen returned to Australia to
make his debut recording with Melba. As a special treat
to Melba patrons, Di and Lino Bresciani graciously
opened their home and hosted a delightful soirée where
Ray and pianist Timothy Young offered a sample of the
repertoire from the recording that they began earlier in
the day.
Ray’s performance was a marvellous example of top-flight
violin virtuosity: the mood ranging from vigorous and
thundering in Stravinsky’s arrangement of his Danse
Russe from Petroushka, to the whimsical in
Stravinsky’s Divertimento. The evening was also a
wonderful opportunity to hear a fine late-period
Stradivarius violin in the most expert hands at close
quarters, performed in an excellent acoustic. In the
muscular Danse Russe, great discretion is usually
required on the part of the pianist so as not to
obliterate the contribution of the violinist. It was not
the case with both players revelling in the rustic
dance. It was not an exaggeration to say that the solo
violin produced as much sound as an orchestral violin
section.
Ray
first came to Melba Recordings’ attention with his win
in the 2008 International Yehudi Menuhin Violin
Competition. Ray, at Melba’s invitation, then played at
a Melba function at the New York residence of Robert
Hill, then Australian Ambassador to the United Nations,
where he wowed the audience with a bravura performance
and a stage presence that belied his tender years. Maria
Vandamme settled on making a recording with Ray on the
spot. In the interim, in 2009, Ray won the world’s most
prestigious violin competition, Queen Elisabeth
International Violin Competition in Brussels, setting
him on the road to a major international solo career.
little about Ray’s background: Ray was born in Taipei in
1989 and grew up in Brisbane where his first
introduction to the violin was through the Suzuki
school. His talent was evident early; Ray made his solo
debut with the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra when he
was only eight years old, then at the age of 15 Ray won
a place at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music, where
he is now completing his studies with Aaron Rosand.
As a
student of Aaron Rosand, Ray joins the most illustrious
traditions of violin playing. Mr Rosand, was a student
of the great Russian violinist, Efrem Zimbalist (the
father of the actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and also a
colleague of Nellie Melba). Zimbalist in his turn was a
student of Leopold Auer, father of the great Russian
School of violin playing and teacher of most of the
great Russian violinists of the first part of the 20th
century, Heifitz, Elman, Milstein, Zimbalist to name a
few.
The
repertoire for Ray’ debut recording is from the Russian
composer Stravinsky. When we think of Stravinsky’s music
often the first thing that comes to mind is the musical
revolutionary who produced the challenging and angular
music of The Rite of Spring, or perhaps of
Stravinsky’s later music which to many seems dry and
bleak. In his solo violin music we find Stravinsky in an
entertaining mood, Stravinsky as the joker, the life of
the party; The piquancy of his harmonies brings life and
humour to his adaptations of other composers’ music,
ranging from Tchaikovsky’s ballet music in the
Divertimento to Pergolesi (and other baroque
composers) in the Suite after themes, fragments and
pieces by Giambattista Pergolesi, an adaptation for
violin and piano by Stravinsky of his Pulcinella
Ballet music and of course the recording includes the
famous Danse Russe.
All
of the music is now recorded and in post production. We
await a most exciting release.
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