Switched on Ray Chen clicks with new album

SWITCHED on Australian violin virtuoso Ray Chen says the internet has changed the way we listen to music and his new album proves his claim.

Ray Chen has released a new album and will be appearing in two concerts in Sydney in August. Picture: Glenn Hunt/The Australian

• That oh-Moye-god moment
• Hope springs eternal with Mozart
• Beethoven in hands of a master
• Gold standard Goldberg

SWITCHED on violin virtuoso Ray Chen says the internet has changed the way we listen to music. “The emphasis is more on what you’ve got to say, on which tracks relate to individual people”.

With a social media following that ranks him as a superstar, the Taiwan-born Australian 29-year-old has chosen an eclectic retro playlist for his sixth studio album and his first outing with the Decca label.

Dubbed The Golden Age, it is partly a tribute to violin greats Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz, partly serious stuff with a cracking performance of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with a nod to Debussy’s centenary in (yet another) arrangement of Clair de lune, albeit a beautiful one — and is interlaced with some ensemble virtuoso string quartet arrangements with a some mates called Made In Berlin.

Chen is aiming for a broad demographic here and it works pretty well. The concerto, performed with the London Philharmonic under Robert Trevino, is worth the price alone. Chen shows why he is more than an internet sensation with dashing good looks and a sense of fun.

Ray Chen's debut album for Decca, The Golden Age.

This is glorious playing which stays true to the music at all times.

The Kreisler pieces are all showstoppers, often used as encores, echoing the current trend of classical performers harking back to the musical tastes of the mid-20th century.

The Made In Berlin tracks add some more spice to the mix with heavily bespoke arrangements of Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No. 1, George Gershwin’s Summertime, Clair de lune and Chen’s encore of choice, Waltzing Matilda.

If the material’s a little patchy the performances are not. This is top-grade musicmaking.

You can hear Ray Chen perform two programs of works with pianist Julien Quentin Musica Viva concerts at City Recital Hall Angel Place on Saturday, August 12, at 2pm and Monday, August 27, at 7pm.

Or you can get The Golden Age at Fish Fine Music for $22.99.