A number of things about this ‘concept’ album irritated me: Ray Chen’s artistry is never in doubt, but I resent the notion that his importance as a serious artist should be even partially defined by the size of his YouTube following – or so we’re breathlessly informed. Second, just who the target of this CD is eludes me. Salon pieces by Kreisler and Cyril Scott were considered quaint in my youth, so heaven knows what millennials would make of them.

The performances of Chen’s “own” Made in Berlin Quartet (all members of the Berlin Philharmonic) in Satie’s Gymnopédie, Clair de Lune and an arrangement of Waltzing Matilda (with a Dies Irae reference) are charming and musical, even witty, as...