Melbourne Recital Centre
August 14, 2018

Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia before his acceptance to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age 15, Ray Chen is a rising star – “one to watch” according to The Strad magazine, and one of Forbes’ thirty most influential people from Asia under thirty. Chen is a consummate showman, and admits to a certain admiration for the violin virtuosi of yesteryear. This much is hinted at in the title of his most recent release for Decca, The Golden Age, which recalls “a time when violinists such as Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz walked the earth, and the music of Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Max Bruch, Cyril Scott and George Gershwin was new.”

A skill Kreisler and Heifetz shared was that both were highly accomplished pianists, and this much was apparent from their arrangements, two of which appeared as encores at Tuesday night’s concert at the Melbourne Recital Centre, just one show in an extensive tour of Australia for Chen and his versatile and highly talented performance partner, French pianist Julien Quentin.

Ray Chen and Julien Quentin. Photo © Alex Jamieson

Both were given...