W  E  D   7   A  P  R  ,   7  P  M

Ray Chen

& Melbourne Chamber Orchestra

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“Chen makes the diabolically difficult look easy... a rock star welcome"

- LIMELIGHT

“His tone is silken, his technique faultless, his musicianship persuasive as well as controlled and poetic"

- THE GUARDIAN

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Violin superstar performs Vivaldi’s iconic Four Seasons with the MCO.

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Programme

VIVALDI The Four Seasons (Le Quattro Stagioni)

PIAZZOLLA Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (Estaciones Porteñas)

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Vivaldi’s Four Seasons remains arguably the most popular and widely recognised piece of music ever written. And for good reason. The Baroque composer’s ability to paint the seasons’ vivid colours, thrilling moods and distinctive characters make the piece as relatable and accessible today as it was when it was published in 1725.

The Four Seasons are four complete violin concertos, and who better to experience some of the most technical and colourful violin concertos with than Australia’s own stratospheric superstar of the violin, Ray Chen? Chen, born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, has the rare star quality of a musician as electrifying on the stages of the most famous halls in the world as he is in front of the camera, and he’s become known by millions for his engaging social media presence, something that has taken classical music far beyond conventional audiences and expectations.

Argentinian tango composer Astor Piazzolla’s Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) was never intended as a direct response to the Vivaldi work, and the four pieces (Buenos Aires Summer, Buenos Aires Winter, Buenos Aires Spring and Buenos Aires Autumn) weren’t even composed to be necessarily played together. And they weren’t concertos; they were actually tangos. But Piazzolla himself often performed these pieces as a collection of seasons and no doubt saw the marketing magic in comparing the Vivaldi seasons and his own Buenos Aires-inspired seasonal pieces. So do we.

We can’t wait to see Chen and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra showcasing the blazing colours and deep, thrumming rhythms of seasons felt in opposite hemispheres.