Amsterdam Sinfonietta and violin virtuoso Ray Chen are touring across Europe with Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons and Tartini’s world-famous Violin Sonata in G minor.
The story goes that Tartini composed his celebrated “Devil’s Trill” Sonata in G minor after a wild dream, in which he handed over his own violin to the devil to test his level of violin playing.
The ensuing hyper-virtuosic improvisation was a feat beyond compare, according to Tartini. Ray Chen is often compared with Paganini due to his lightning-fast left hand; he performs the devilishly difficult sonata effortlessly.
The violin virtuoso is also the soloist in Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, with its masterly references to Vivaldi’s four seasons, in the arrangement for string orchestra and solo violin. Likewise composed in the twentieth century, Bartók’s Divertimento for strings reflects his fascination for folk music and complex rhythms.
