Max Tan: Eugène Ysaÿe: Transformations
Centaur Records

Transformations warrants attention for a number of reasons, beginning with the presentation of premiere recordings of unpublished arrangements by Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe of violin repertoire transcribed for violin, piano, and organ. The performances themselves, by Taiwanese-American violinist Max Tan, pianist Marisa Gupta, and organist Chris Yuejian Chen, are a major selling-point for the recording, not only for showcasing their rapport but for offering one example after another of the sumptuous and rhapsodic playing for which Tan's known. Transformations is noteworthy on other counts too, for featuring arrangements that accompany violin with two keyboards as opposed to piano only, and for raising fascinating questions about the interpretation of a work's score and the authorial relationship that can develop between performer and composer as a particular work is created.

As indicated by the inclusion of his Andante, Ysaÿe was a composer as well as musician; however, he's mostly recognized today as a violinist who influenced profoundly the performative approach to the instrument and as the the dedicatee of a number of important violin pieces. As outlined in detailed liner notes by Tan and Lev Mamuya, he didn't merely perform Ernest Chausson's Poème but played a pivotal role in its development over many decades (in a 2020 Juilliard presentation, Tan asserted that the work evolved through five iterations). They note, for example, that the French composer shared drafts with Ysaÿe, the work's dedicatee, as it was created and that the latter's contributions grew so pivotal that Chausson came to refer to the work as “your-my” or “my-your” in their correspondence. Consistent with that, when a student of Ysaÿe's commented that the work's opening cadenza sounded as if the violinist had written it himself, he apparently responded, “Mais oui, that is precisely what I did—on Chausson's framework” (the version on Transformations is Ysaÿe's 1925 re-orchestration for violin, piano, and organ).

The two also contend that many of the qualities of modern violin playing—“warm and sensual tones, expressive use of slides, singing and varied vibrato, and characterful contrasts”—are attributable to Ysaÿe, and certainly evidence of his influence is present in Tan's own playing. In addition to the aforementioned Andante and Poème, the album, recorded in November 2021 at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in New York, includes arrangements by Ysaÿe of Bach's Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major and Tomas Antonio Vitali's Chaconne plus a performance of Charles Gounod's Méditation sur le Premier Prélude de Piano de S. Bach. While the three-movement Bach work exceeds the length of Poème by two minutes, the latter is clearly the album's centrepiece.

Tan and company are well-qualified for the project. He's distinguished himself as a violinist and live performer but also scholar and educator. An alumnus of Harvard and Juilliard, Tan holds the position of concertmaster of Opera Philadelphia, made his Carnegie Hall recital debut with Gupta in April 2024, and has delivered premieres of works by living composers from around the globe. It's worth noting that the focus of his dissertation was on the unpublished arrangements of Poème and other works for violin, piano, and organ by Ysaÿe, making Transformations a natural outgrowth of that intensive study. Gupta is an award-winning virtuoso who's also recorded an album of Ysaÿe works with French violinist Philippe Graffin, while the Shanghai-based Chen received his doctorate and Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School.

Transformations opens with Ysaÿe's arrangement for violin and organ of Vitali's popular Chaconne in G minor, Tan impressing immediately for the artistry of his intonation, phrasing, and control and the material engaging for its lyrical ache. Ysaÿe's organ part provides satisfying counterpoint to the violin without overpowering it, but it's Tan's eloquent performance that ultimately resonates most vehemently. As they are throughout the fifty-four-minute release, Tan's trills, arpeggios, vibrato, dynamics, portamenti, and pacing are handled thoughtfully and commandingly. With Gounod's Méditation sur le Premier Prélude de Piano de S. Bach, Gupta joins Tan and Chen, the piece captivating instantly with a pretty solo piano intro and subsequently for the warmth and radiance of Tan's expression and the subtle integration of organ. Ysaÿe's arrangement of Bach's second violin concerto follows, Gupta again initiating the performance and Tan and Chen fast on her heels. After the “Allegro” is treated to a robust reading, the central “Adagio” impresses for the restraint with which it's delivered and the dignity of its expression. The closing “Allegro assai” reinstates the spirited attack of the first movement and sets a bright stage for the performance of Poème that comes next.

Paced carefully, the piece begins with organ chords before the piano's entrance and eventually the violin's. A stirring cadenza establishes the instrument's authoritative presence, which Tan sustains with one passionately executed episode after another. Both Gupta and Chen appear in unaccompanied passages, though Ysaÿe's arrangement segues smoothly between solo, duo, and trio parts. An intense as the musicians' reading is, it isn't overwrought, and consequently the performance never loses poise. After that dynamic presentation, Ysaÿe's serenading Andante for violin and piano provides a comfortable easing out, its relative calm not unwelcome after the searing drama of Poème.

June 2025