Acclaimed Violinist Ray Chen 'Virtuoso'

Debut album on Sony Classical - Available February 1, 2011

'Ray Chen can do pretty much anything he wants on the violin' - The Washington Post

PR Newswire
NEW YORK
01/25/2011

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Classical announces the release of Virtuoso the debut album on the label from the acclaimed young violinist Ray Chen.

Winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2009) and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition (2008), Chen has received rave reviews from critics, and high praise from distinguished musicians around the globe for the fresh insight he brings to his performances and a musical authority far beyond his age.

Maxim Vengerov, impressed by Chen's charisma, stunning technique and natural ability to communicate, has described him as "a very pure musician with great qualities such as beautiful, youthful tone, vitality and lightness". Chen's upcoming engagements include performances with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester at Berlin's Philharmonie, and with the Munich Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Spanish National Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, as well as recitals and chamber music at today's most prestigious venues and festivals, such as Verbier and Ravinia.

Virtuoso, Chen's first recording for Sony Classical represents a selection of his personal favorites from different strands of the violin repertoire. The album opens with the fiendishly difficult "Devil's Trill" Sonata by Tartini - a remarkable virtuoso and something of a rock star in his own time, whose phenomenal technique was reportedly explained by the fact that he had six fingers on his left hand. Legend has it the Devil appeared to the composer in a dream and tempted him into a pact by playing a beautiful melody on a violin. Chen considers the "Devil's Trill" Sonata, with its haunting opening melody, to be the ideal curtain-raiser. In total contrast to the brilliant fireworks display of the first piece, the album continues with Bach's Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor. Chen considers this piece - based on a simple but moving theme which evolves into myriad intricate musical figures - to be a study of a whole range of human emotions: melancholy, delight, grief and rapture in the magnificent chorale finale. He describes it as the epitome of the solo violin repertoire. Henryk Wieniawski is among Chen's favorite composers whose music features not only breath-taking technical display but also true passion. He first played the beautiful Legende in G minor op. 17 at the age of eight and it has remained special to him ever since. 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 confesses to learning it only when he felt that his fingers were "well-oiled enough to meet the challenge of this massive-monster-mammoth of a piece." The mood shifts once again with Cesar Franck's intimate and poetic Violin Sonata in A major. This composer wrote very little chamber music, yet this late work is regarded as a major masterpiece. Chen chose to end his first album with this sonata, as it examines the different stages of human existence: "A lifetime of experiences, all represented in one single piece." Dedicated as a wedding gift to the Belgian composer and violinist Eugene Ysaye, it provides a fitting conclusion to this imaginative and far-ranging debut recording, an important milestone in the increasingly exciting career of the young musician.

Sony Classical is the label group in charge of classical music within Sony Music Entertainment, based in New York and Berlin and responsible for the international productions of Sony Classical, RCA Red Seal and Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, as well as a vast catalogue that goes back to Enrico Caruso. Sony Classical is the home of artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lang Lang, Joshua Bell, Murray Perahia and Vittorio Grigolo, as well as containing the musical legacy of Glenn Gould, Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Arturo Toscanini and Leonard Bernstein. In the USA, Sony Classical is represented by the Sony Masterworks label group. For email updates and information please visit www.SonyMasterworks.com.

For further information please visit http://www.raychenviolin.com

TOUR DATES:




    Performance Date                      City          Venue/Presenter
    ----------------                      ----          ---------------
                                                   San Francisco Symphony
    Saturday, January 29, 2011  San Francisco, CA  Orchestra
    --------------------------  ----------------- -----------------------
    Friday, February 04, 2011   Orange County, CA Pacific Symphony
    -------------------------   ----------------- ----------------
                                                   St. Stephen's Concert
    Sunday, February 27, 2011   Durham, NC         Series
    -------------------------   ----------        ----------------------
    Sunday, March 06, 2011      La Jolla, CA      La Jolla Music Society
    ----------------------      ------------      ----------------------
    Saturday, March 12, 2011    Westport, CT      Music for Youth
    ------------------------    ------------      ---------------
    Saturday, April 16, 2011    Latrobe, PA       St. Vincent College
    ------------------------    -----------       -------------------
    Wednesday, April 27, 2011   Schenectady, NY   Union College
    -------------------------   ---------------   -------------
    Saturday, April 30, 2011    Westchester, NY   Friends of Music
    ------------------------    ---------------   ----------------
    Saturday, June 25 -July 14,
     2011                       Bowdoin, ME       Bowdoin Festival
    --------------------------- -----------       ----------------
                                                   Ravinia Festival; Bennett
    Friday, August 26, 2011     Chicago, IL        Gordon Hall
    -----------------------     -----------       --------------------------
                                                   Cincinnati SO; Ascent
    December 2, 3, 2011         Cincinnati, OH     Series
    -------------------         --------------    ----------------------
    January 13, 14, 15, 2012    San Diego, CA     San Diego Symphony
    ------------------------    -------------     ------------------


SOURCE Sony Classical

SOURCE: Sony Classical

Acclaimed Violinist Ray Chen 'Virtuoso' Debut album on Sony Classical - Available February 1, 2011 'Ray Chen can do pretty much anything he wants on the violin' - The Washington Post

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Classical announces the release of Virtuoso the debut album on the label from the acclaimed young violinist Ray Chen.

Winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2009) and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition (2008), Chen has received rave reviews from critics, and high praise from distinguished musicians around the globe for the fresh insight he brings to his performances and a musical authority far beyond his age.

Maxim Vengerov, impressed by Chen's charisma, stunning technique and natural ability to communicate, has described him as "a very pure musician with great qualities such as beautiful, youthful tone, vitality and lightness". Chen's upcoming engagements include performances with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester at Berlin's Philharmonie, and with the Munich Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Spanish National Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, as well as recitals and chamber music at today's most prestigious venues and festivals, such as Verbier and Ravinia.

Virtuoso, Chen's first recording for Sony Classical represents a selection of his personal favorites from different strands of the violin repertoire. The album opens with the fiendishly difficult "Devil's Trill" Sonata by Tartini - a remarkable virtuoso and something of a rock star in his own time, whose phenomenal technique was reportedly explained by the fact that he had six fingers on his left hand. Legend has it the Devil appeared to the composer in a dream and tempted him into a pact by playing a beautiful melody on a violin. Chen considers the "Devil's Trill" Sonata, with its haunting opening melody, to be the ideal curtain-raiser. In total contrast to the brilliant fireworks display of the first piece, the album continues with Bach's Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor.  Chen considers this piece - based on a simple but moving theme which evolves into myriad intricate musical figures - to be a study of a whole range of human emotions: melancholy, delight, grief and rapture in the magnificent chorale finale. He describes it as the epitome of the solo violin repertoire.  Henryk Wieniawski is among Chen's favorite composers whose music features not only breath-taking technical display but also true passion. He first played the beautiful Legende in G minor op. 17 at the age of eight and it has remained special to him ever since. 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 confesses to learning it only when he felt that his fingers were "well-oiled enough to meet the challenge of this massive-monster-mammoth of a piece."  The mood shifts once again with Cesar Franck's intimate and poetic Violin Sonata in A major. This composer wrote very little chamber music, yet this late work is regarded as a major masterpiece.  Chen chose to end his first album with this sonata, as it examines the different stages of human existence: "A lifetime of experiences, all represented in one single piece." Dedicated as a wedding gift to the Belgian composer and violinist Eugene Ysaye, it provides a fitting conclusion to this imaginative and far-ranging debut recording, an important milestone in the increasingly exciting career of the young musician.

Sony Classical is the label group in charge of classical music within Sony Music Entertainment, based in New York and Berlin and responsible for the international productions of Sony Classical, RCA Red Seal and Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, as well as a vast catalogue that goes back to Enrico Caruso. Sony Classical is the home of artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lang Lang, Joshua Bell, Murray Perahia and Vittorio Grigolo, as well as containing the musical legacy of Glenn Gould, Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Arturo Toscanini and Leonard Bernstein. In the USA, Sony Classical is represented by the Sony Masterworks label group. For email updates and information please visit www.SonyMasterworks.com.

For further information please visit http://www.raychenviolin.com

TOUR DATES:


Performance Date

City

Venue/Presenter

Saturday, January 29, 2011

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Symphony Orchestra

Friday, February 04, 2011

Orange County, CA

Pacific Symphony

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Durham, NC

St. Stephen's Concert Series

Sunday, March 06, 2011

La Jolla, CA

La Jolla Music Society

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Westport, CT

Music for Youth

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Latrobe, PA

St. Vincent College

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Schenectady, NY

Union College

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Westchester, NY

Friends of Music

Saturday, June 25 - July 14, 2011

Bowdoin, ME

Bowdoin Festival

Friday, August 26, 2011

Chicago, IL

Ravinia Festival; Bennett Gordon Hall

December 2, 3, 2011

Cincinnati, OH

Cincinnati SO; Ascent Series

January 13, 14, 15, 2012

San Diego, CA

San Diego Symphony




SOURCE Sony Classical

CONTACT: Angela Barkan, +1-212-833-8575, angela.barkan@sonymusic.com or Larissa Slezak, +1-212-833-6075, larissa.slezak.@sonymusic.com, both of Sony MASTERWORKS

Web Site: http://www.raychenviolin.com