Virtuoso

VIRTUOSO represents a selection of Ray Chen s personal favorites from different strands of the violin repertoire. The album opens with the fiendishly difficult Devil's Trill Sonata by Tartini. Next is Bach s Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor, which Chen describes as a study in the range of human emotions and the epitome of the solo violin repertoire. Henryk Wieniawski is among Chen s favorite composers, whose beautiful Légende in G Minor Op. 17 the artist first played at the age of eight. The epic Variations on an original theme in A Major Op.15, however, is a work to be attempted solely by musicians in the very top flight. Chen chose to end his first album with César Franck's intimate and poetic Violin Sonata in A Major. It features a lifetime of experiences, all represented in one single piece, and it provides a fitting conclusion to his imaginative and far-ranging debut recording.