My comments on John Chen's Ravel Trio in 2004

I should have known. With all my compliments to Charisse Baldoria's Ravel piano trio (and it was indeed respectably lovely), John Chen's blew it out of the water!! John Chen is the man. Without a doubt. Luckily I had the presence of mind to stick a tape in the machine and record his chamber music. I just had a feeling it would be something special. From the moment it started, you could sense his complete control and love of every note in every phrase. You knew that he was always aware of the string parts and exactly what they were supposed to be doing. The ensemble was impeccable. Thing is, the competitors got very little rehearsal time with the strings, therefore most of the chamber music performances have been fairly perfunctory with little sense of real ensemble. Not so John Chen's. His wonderful musical spirit obviously uplifted the string players he worked with and there were a lot of moments where it felt like real teamwork and not just three people playing at the same time. The colours, the expression, the overall shape of the music, was all just something to glory in constantly. I was tidying my room and packing for my trip while listening, and I found myself frozen still because I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was in this state of disbelief until he finished the piece and when the audience started cheering (and they ERUPTED!) I couldn't help myself, I just jumped up and down like a loony. I had tears in my eyes, it was such an amazing performance. It was some of the most convincing Ravel playing I have ever heard, and I'm a hard one to please when it comes to Ravel. So I listened for Gerard Willems' comments and he was similarly flabbergasted and said it was "an astounding performance on every level." And then I found out HE PLAYED THE WHOLE THING FROM MEMORY! Gaaaah! I mean, the Chamber Music is the only thing it's *not* compulsory to memorise! And nobody ever memorises chamber music because it's so risky! He must have a photographic memory because to remember *all those notes* in the piano part and also the string parts to make sure everything fits in perfectly (which it did, at no point was the ensemble the slightest bit disurbed) is a really titanic feat. What a talent. I was saying yesterday that I can see John Chen being a major international artist in a few years. *shakes head* I'm just so astounded by his playing. And I get to hear him in recital tonight! Whee! I can't even describe the feeling of elation I felt after hearing his performance yesterday. It was a truly special thing. John Chen was transcendent. Now there's someone who really really really REALLY understands Ravel on every level.

(As you can see, I was quite enamoured. As I still am and probably always will be.)