Bamberger Symphoniker / Jakub Hrůša

Ray Chen had just turned ten when he played Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor for the first time. In other words, he was at an age where most violin pupils are happy if they can play a simple Mozart tune without too many bum notes. But this early encounter with Bruch’s deeply Romantic work left such an impression on the young Taiwanese musician, who grew up in Australia and America, that it remains one of his favourite pieces of music to this day. And there can be no questions that Brahms’s First Symphony likewise has the potential to be a favourite, with its dramatic introduction and refined melodies.