Janine Jansen
An auspicious debut but more substantial fare might have made a bigger impression
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Maurice Ravel, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, John (Towner) Williams, Dmitri Shostakovich, Camille Saint-Saëns, Aram Il'yich Khachaturian
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Decca
Magazine Review Date: 11/2003
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 57
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 475 011-2DH
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Swan Lake, Movement: Pas de six: |
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer
Barry Wordsworth, Conductor Janine Jansen, Violin Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
Masquerade, Movement: Nocturne |
Aram Il'yich Khachaturian, Composer
Aram Il'yich Khachaturian, Composer Barry Wordsworth, Conductor Janine Jansen, Violin Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
Havanaise |
Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer
Barry Wordsworth, Conductor Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Janine Jansen, Violin Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
(The) Gadfly, Movement: Romance (3 and 7) |
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer
Barry Wordsworth, Conductor Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer Janine Jansen, Violin Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
Schindler's List, Movement: Theme from Schindler's List |
John (Towner) Williams, Composer
Barry Wordsworth, Conductor Janine Jansen, Violin John (Towner) Williams, Composer Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
(The) Lark ascending |
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer
Barry Wordsworth, Conductor Janine Jansen, Violin Ralph Vaughan Williams, Composer Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
Tzigane |
Maurice Ravel, Composer
Barry Wordsworth, Conductor Janine Jansen, Violin Maurice Ravel, Composer Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
Introduction and Rondo capriccioso |
Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer
Barry Wordsworth, Conductor Camille Saint-Saëns, Composer Janine Jansen, Violin Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
Author: Edward Greenfield
The recorded balance is close, with the orchestra, like the soloist, larger than life. This especially suits the more exuberant works like the two Saint-Saëns showpieces, in which Jansen is bold and fearless. She plays the Shostakovich Romance with an apt, songful simplicity, which also graces the theme from John Williams’s music for Schindler’s List.
Jansen’s rubato is carefully controlled but never sounds over-studied; the rhapsodic introduction to Ravel’s Tzigane sounds genuinely improvisatory and has pianissimi of hushed intensity. Curiously, given her Proms success with The Lark Ascending, it is there that I miss the meditative, inner quality that marks the finest performances. Instead, her fresh, warm approach evokes the music’s folk elements. She is a violinist with a big personality who I am sure will be heard soon on disc in far more substantial works.
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