Ray Chen | Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto | 1st Mvt | Queen Elisabeth Comp | 1 of 2 | 2009

[antar1485]

3:37 the tools of the trade. look how skinny his fingers are!

[kackeygirl25419]

He looks weird when he plays the violin. Look at his eyes! And he should really use the chin rest

[Alexxc13]

oh wowwww omg so incredibly amazing..... here's someone who totally, in my opinion, can compare to perlman

[Alexxc13]

omg he's amazing!!!!

[matijaabram]

@RBLVK: the same

[RBLVK]

He has the wrong feeling for this piece. Wrong tempo for my taste. Don't like this guy.

[solveaproblem]

@RBLVK too fast, too much bravura and not enough tenderness. uegh

[RBLVK]

@solveaproblem Exactly! For me, this piece belongs to Itzhak Perlman.

[dziady1]

A dime a dozen playing - one can hear top dozen or so playing this 2nd.

rate concerto with as much or better ease . It would be interesting to hear him

when he is not sawing away to appeal to dreary judges at a competition in hopes

of winning a prize.

[travonprince]

Really great but I just thought that your playing needed a little more aggression at the parts where it was needed.

[xdoryyxx]

absolutely breathtaking! I love his playing. it's so smooth and he makes it look so easy.

[MrGunterguerrero]

Who doesn't like the Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto ? And the Ray Chen perform ?

Absolutely perfect !

[sevcik2]

Great performance! Beautiful tone!

Bravo!

[168babylove]

his fingers are like paganini, very long.

[jameghiskhan2005]

very good, but it would be better without the facial expressions. Not suggesting that they are anything but genuine, just a bit distracting.

[uaml]

Just went to his debut concert in HK tonight (25 Mar). He played the same concerto. Nice.

[QwertyAzerty2009]

just saw Ray Chen perform at the Pequot Library in CT on Saturday!!!  Really AMAZING!!

[nikkimchi]

brilliant. amazing.

[aortablue]

Mistake at around 5:17 (the first ascending scale) ?

Brilliant performance! love it..great passion!

[wuman30]

Ray came to my school today, he was very friendly and relaxed.

[krista0119]

bravo!! awesome~

[ScottAlterMusic]

He's quite good, but doesn't compare to the greats like Oistrakh, Perlman, Heifitz, etc.

If he gets a little more technical and able to maintain the incredibly beautiful tone he achieves at a few times, he may get up there though. The musicality is awesome!

[violinhunter2]

Every so often he leaves notes out and one can see the effort in the performance even though I know he is not struggling with it and yes, his intonation is insecure, too. I bet he'll get much better!!! Bravo. Some say Gatto should have gotten first prize. Who knows.

[jackielnoel]

Oh Tchaikovsky! So passionate! Well done Ray! I enjoy your interpertation. Congrats on a wonderful performance! :)

[swimfish17]

i truly do respect his style and ive seen many performances of this concerto and he surely has a very different but very unique approach to this piece. bravo! :)

[sirarpisamvelyan]

Amazing...

[isitvalottioryoung1]

...which is wonderful!

[isitvalottioryoung1]

Dude's got fingers like a lemur!

[MsMilaChayka]

I really like how he interprets this concert. It is a subtle understanding of Tchaikovsky.

[londonlondon68]

Amazing!

[ihowley2]

Talent + hard work + sensitivity to the music = Ray Chen. We'll hear a lot more of this rising Australian talent.

[waistoi]

I want to be his boyfriend :)

[weselvy]

he's playing oistrakhs rendition

[violinrachel]

so suffering to see him play the violin maybe is real expression but sure looks fake sorry find it very distracting

[Glissish]

You must be joking!!

[universalmelodi]

even if he would be doing extreme facial expressions, it's still a success because he is comfortable enough to even act... but he is enjoying! so chill ppl

[Vinefeather]

And he looks like he's having fun playing violin at the same time w/ his facial experssions. =o

[madlyhigh]

i love his facial expressions.

he's an amazing player!

[mdclxvis]

i went to high school with Ray and saw him come through the Queensland Youth Orchestras. He is the most genuine you will ever meet. Any suggestion that he imitating anyone or faking his enormous talent, i have to totally rebuke. He has always been something special and he continues to amaze us all. looking forward to when get comes back to Australia to play!:)

[ANNEERR]

@mdclxvis did you go to Brisbane Boys Grammar ??

[jessicadrhp]

@mdclxvis which high school in brisbane did he attend?

[TYCK3]

@jessicadrhp Brisbane Grammar School.

[passerabianca]

TheVerity93 says that if you have facial expression you cannot feel the music. The principle is absolutely right and absolutely high level musical culture and preparation, unless to every rule there is exception. The kind of face expression he talks about is used INSTEAD of the music and definitely expresses either musical block and there's the kind that happen in pure innocence and complete freedom WITH the music and that can maybe interfere with concentration. The guy is not imiting anyone :)

[TheVerity93]

If you think about your answer it is totally nonsense. Yes he is a good... imitator but not an artist.

[Coolzmanvill]

Uhm... Who EXACTLY is he imitating? I find your statement utter nonsense too. Since the term "artist" has such a vague definition, I guess your interpretation is entirely subjective. Hence I cannot criticize you there.

[sunyuloveu]

why do you just talk about facial thing and imitation? If he can imitate so good that everybody like him, except you, means he is good! close your eyes, if you can still feel his beauty, just enjoy! there are thousands of people abuse langlang, who do they think they are? Artist or non artist, they don't have the right to judge. so, shut up, and enjoy his playing. you have to be honest, you like him, but he won the biggest prize, so you are jealous. Am I right?

[Coolzmanvill]

If he wasn't the best this year he wouldn't have won first prize - -", just chill out and accept that hes good.

[TheVerity93]

Talent is not that...real talent doesn't need to imitate anyone...

just be yourself and play with your heart!!

[TheVerity93]

The facial expressions are important as well as they show what comes from inside, the emotion...and if it's an imitation it's not original...and the music is not coming from real feelings...

When somebody works hours and hours, he can imitate expressions so the music is an imitation as well and it's not coming from the heart...

[UnderTheBamboooTree]

this is a young guy who really enjoys playing the violin... he doesn't look fake to me...

[Yuwin09]

I bet you must be a very good player, please show your video and let everybody see how "hearty" is your facial expressions!!!

[TheJumpingcastle]

I'm very looking for watching The Veryty93's controlled facial expressions too! Don't just criticize others and nice to yourself! Be brave to show us!!!

[teamMongolia]

@verity: what are you trying to say?

white people can play like this after many hours of work.

who cares how maxim or this guy looks when they play. if it bothers you then don't look. the point is how they play.

[steven961302]

What The Best!!!!

He was born in Taiwan =)

[jsot1988]

long fingers?? doesn't he?? jejeje

[kiroualekou]

at 8:25 this version choses the higher notes (more beautifull according to me from the 2 versions possible) but apart from 2 small mistakes jiafeng chen made in first part of his tchaikovsky his tempo and overall interpretation was better for me-can you also upload part 2 and 3 of jiafeng chen's tchaikovsky pleaaase-thank you for the uploads!

[AndreiViolinist]

AGREE!!!! He was the best in everything!!

[hayasargh]

Amazing... soo jealous that he got to tour with Maxim Vengerov :(

[TECstudio]

If you listen closely you can tell that he is still playing in tune even though the violin is not staying in tune. Strads usually sound pretty nice but they are not always as sturdy and reliable as they need to be.

[jetc10]

You're right! His violin was out of tune all along the first mvt. But he did it good anyway! Brave and bald Ray Chen, the reward was high.

[TECstudio]

But make no mistake. Playing Tchaikovsky is like leaping up the side of a mountain 80 degrees steep. It is an athletic as well as musical accomplishment. These guys were all sweating bullets under their tuxes. But Ray looks like he is playing at the greatest soccer game of his life.

[TECstudio]

He makes it look effortless. He plays as if the audience knows all the musical punch lines.

[theviolinmaster99]

I love it!!! Very enthusiastic, with so many facial expressions. I'm just like him when I play. My teacher actually tells me to stop moving so much, but only in a lesson =)

[gnatural]

in my opinion garnet was the only violinist there with a unique sound, i thought he should have had the grand prize.

[sisisolde]

Garnet was the most touching, I think

but chen has more charm

he knows how to capture a public not only with his outstanding playing, but also with his flair

(excuse me for my English, I'm from Belgium)

[gnatural]

ill take feeling over charm any day :)

[gnatural]

@sisisolde @sisisolde now when i look at your comment. I can help but disagree even more. You know that perlman is disabled and he sits down. he barely moves and cant express this (flare) your talking about in bodily movement the way cCen does, but his music is still far more captivating. A musician should not have to bob and dance to capture his audience. the music should be enough.

[DYABLO69]

6:11 ...

[DYABLO69]

5:18 :))

[Yuwin09]

He gave an electric exciting feeling!!

BRAVO!!!

[ynitsedtom]

I am a Taiwanese.And I love violin very much. His music touched me deeply,and I envy him that he has a talent of playing violin.

[arrow81030]

OMG! his fingers O_O the are anormally big! wow hahaha i would kill for those hands :( he was borned to be a violinist very good :D

[baerfas]

agreed.

[mykeeistopchef]

Luck people who have TV stations they can watch this on! Congrats Ray Chen!

[Taljd2]

HE WENT TO MY SCHOOL!!!

[tunelliner]

@Taljd2 he was in my class !!!! lol

[angieinamerica]

Thanks for posting those videos! That's really nice of you!

Ray's awesome!! His music seems full of love! A Belgian critic compared him to Peter Pan! That's kind of a good comparison in the way that they're both magical!

[Wardjezz]

Really great performance! A rightful winner indeed!

[flewor]

I agree it was the best final. but certainly not the best recital. It was a good Mozart concerto but I enjoyed more Garnet's one.

[Jenjoliveur]

I totally agree, Garnet's Mozart was really the best.

[teoviolin]

Yes,Garnet's Mozart was the best, and final too.....

[twiggymunchkin]

so much spirit! what an inspiration :)

[PetrucciVaiSatriani]

yes, he deserved it! Love his Tchaikovsky

[EBELAngel]

Beautifull performance, saw it last night on the final's for the Queen Elisabeth Comepetition on the Belgian National Television.

He rightfully won this outstanding competition.