Violinist Janine Jansen | Back in Radiant Form

Tue, Feb 10 - Tue, Feb 10  2015

On February 10th Dutch violinist Janine Jansen performed at Zankel Hall alongside Israeli pianist Itamar Golan after a period of illness. In recent years Janine Jansen had to back out from several performances such as the high-profile concerts with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic due to a period of illness. For the first time in while Janine Jansen was back on stage and her performance did not go unnoticed.

The New York Times featured a praising review of Jansen’s peformance stating that “She was back, in radiant form,… which proved that she is an artist worth the wait”, just like “Ms. Jansen’s full-bodied, polished-wood sound”

About the performance

Violinist Janine Jansen plays fiery virtuosic works of Ravel and Prokofiev with pianist Itamar Golan; music by two composers not closely associated with chamber music. Prokofiev said his Violin Sonata No. 1 was ‘serious in mood,’ and asked the violinist to sound like ‘wind in a graveyard’ in a first-movement passage. But the sonata’s mysterious third movement and wild finale is hardly gloomy.

Ravel’s Violin Sonata is noteworthy for its second movement Blues, considered by the composer to be a Frenchman’s view of American Jazz. Ravel’s interest in Hungarian culture inspired Tzigane, a fiery virtuoso showpiece that vividly captures the essence of the gypsy musical spirit.

About Janine Jansen

A violinist with an enviable international reputation, Janine Jansen works regularly with the world’s preeminent orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, and New York Philharmonic. She was the featured artist at the 2014 BBC proms, culminating in an appearance at the world-renowned Last Night of the Proms.

Ms. Jansen has won numerous prizes, including four Edison Klassiek awards, three ECHO Klassik awards, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, an NDR Musikpreis for outstanding artistic achievement, and most recently the Concertgebouw Prize. She has also been awarded the VSCD Klassieke Muziekprijs for individual achievement and the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award for performances in the UK. Ms. Jansen studied with Coosje Wijzenbeek, Philippe Hirschhorn, and Boris Belkin.