It might be an intimate recital album, but there's nothing at all small-scale about 21-year-old violinist Ray Chen's debut recording for Sony Masterworks, entitled "Virtuoso." First of all, he's chosen some of the most Olympian works in the repertoire: Tartini's demonically difficult "Devil's Trill" sonata, two Wieniawski extravaganzas, Bach's immortal Chaconne, and the achingly lyrical Franck sonata.
Moreover, there's that potentially eyebrow-raising title, one that instantly conjures up comparisons to iconic musicians of past and present. Indeed, without being asked, the affable violinist, who is on the phone from his home in Philadelphia right before flying off for a performance with the San Francisco Symphony, launches into musing about his debut album’s title. “It’s pretty provocative, I know,” he says with a hearty laugh. “ I’ve gotten my share of people saying, ‘Oh, so you think you’re the next big thing!’ Well, that’s not it at all--first of all, I’m much more concerned about what’s on the recording than what’s on the cover. But these pieces are really virtuosic.”
“Also,” Chen continues, “there’s some negative connotation to the word ‘virtuoso’ anyway, I think--meaning it’s all technique, no musicality, all flash-bang, you know? Well, when I go to concerts, I want at least a little flash-bang showing off--that’s awesome! But as it happens, technique was actually not the most natural thing for me personally. In fact, there were six months when I was 14 years old that I actually had to go back and build from the ground up again--I played nothing but etudes and scales, that’s it.”
What's on the recording is a thrilling debut, showcasing Chen's easy grace in even the most technically demanding music; it's no wonder that after his recent first appearance at the Kennedy Center, the Washington Post's critic began her review with this: "Ray Chen can do pretty much anything he wants on the violin."
The repertoire on Virtuoso is very close to the young musician. “It’s a really old-school program,” the violinist says, “but actually, it’s the same program I played for my graduation recital at Curtis,” he notes, “and then I’ve played it in some pretty high-profile recitals in Washington and in New York.”
In other words, it’s a program that he’s now lived with for quite some time--has his approach to these works, or in thinking about them as a grouping, changed at all? “It’s a very interesting question that you’re asking me,” responds Chen thoughtfully. “Actually, I think it was the recording of them that changed my approach more than anything. There are certain things you can do in a recording that you can’t do so well in a live performance--bring out small details, for instance--but of course the reverse is true as well. But in the process of recording, I was hearing myself after each movement, and I was very aware of what the microphones could and couldn’t do. A microphone, even the best one, is not the human ear! It misses nuances. So, for example, I learned that I needed to exaggerate dynamic differences, as microphones have quite a reduced dynamic range--so my pianos needed to be much softer, and my fortes much louder.”
Now just 21 years old, Chen began playing the violin at age four as a child in Australia, where he moved with his family from Taiwan when he was just a few months old. “My parents aren’t musicians at all, but they certainly love music,” the violinist says. “I first learned how to play violin in the Suzuki method, which really encourages parents to learn alongside their kids--and so my mother learned how to play violin at the same time I did; she’s been a big part of my musical life and development. I’m incredibly lucky that they’ve been so supportive and have sacrificed so much to allow me to do this--not in a driven, scary, ‘Tiger Mother’ kind of way, though!” he laughs again. “They have just been so encouraging in helping me pursue my dream. And to tell you the truth, my mother’s ear is just as good as mine now. When I was competing in both the Queen Elisabeth and in the Menuhin competitions, I flew her over to be with me--she’s really a kind of coach to me.”
Oh, yes--there’s the small matter of the competitions Chen has won, two of the most prestigious and celebrated events for any classical violinist: the Queen Elisabeth, in which Chen took first place in 2009, and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition, where he won first prize in 2008 and where he first met fellow violinist (and jury member) Maxim Vengerov, who has become something of a mentor to Chen and who immediately engaged the younger artist to perform with the Mariinsky Orchestra in St. Petersburg.
“I believe that competitions are incredibly important to young players,” Chen asserts. “When you’re a student, you honestly don’t have that many performance opportunities. And there’s nothing like giving live performances to improve a very specific set of skills: that is, when the pressure’s really on, can you still execute? Each round that you progress, that’s another opportunity to perform in front of an audience, and of course in front a jury. And I’m one of those people who really needs specific, short-term goals. Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed of traveling the world as a violinist; that’s an immense goal, but not a very concrete one. So participating in all these competitions was a way of having concrete goals lined up.”
So what’s the next concrete goal for this emerging star? Among other concert dates, an engagement at the Sydney Opera House, where he’ll be performing the Brahms Violin Concerto--”an iconic concerto at a venue that is so iconic, particularly to me as an Australian,” as Chen notes--and preparing to record his next album, a pairing of the Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky concertos.
“Convincing” is a word Chen uses a lot in conversation, and it comes up again in talking about this next recording project. “‘Like the world needs another recording of those two pieces,’” the violinist says, imagining critical response. “Well, I won the Menuhin with the Mendelssohn, and I won the Queen Elisabeth playing the Tchaikovsky. I have to record music that I believe in personally, and I sincerely feel that I have something to offer in both these works.” With talent like his, who’s to argue?
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by Anastasia Tsioulcas
