Sibelius — Prokofiev 1 — Violin Concertos (Decca)
★★★★★
When Janine Jansen is on music, no residing violinist comes shut. The Dutch virtuoso has been liable to live performance cancellations resulting from bouts of sickness and self-doubt, however when she performs as she does on this recording, you’ll forgive each previous disappointment and e-book without delay for the subsequent stay encounter.
Within the Sibelius concerto Jansen is so commanding she makes Heifetz sound effortful. In distinction to most interpreters, she ignores icy metaphors of a sub-Arctic composer and teases out heat from between the crevasses. The opening motion is a marvel in its personal proper. Solely Heifetz, Ida Haendel and Hilary Hahn are on this class of mastery. All of the efficiency misses is a flash of Ivry Gitlis mischief (however there was just one Ivry). Jansen presently tops the Sibelius league desk.
Her whispering entry to the primary Prokofiev concerto has the intimacy of pillow speak. Prokofiev #1 is the Physician Zhivago of violin concertos, written in the course of the revolutionary years with a tormented romance in thoughts. Jansen achieves Pasternak-like poetics, hinting all of the whereas at ominous historic occasions and ending in courageous irresolution. Her dialogue with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra is likely to be deemed intuitive have been it not for the highly effective involvement of its chief conductor Klaus Mäkelä.
That is the most effective I’ve heard from Mäkelä on document. With a febrile soloist, he each anticipates and accommodates her whims, muting the orchestra or letting rip as required. That is sensitivity of a excessive order, allied to an empathy uncommon amongst podium kings. His efficiency is a parallel masterclass. Don’t miss it.
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Norman Lebrecht is likely one of the most widely-read commentators on music, tradition and cultural politics. He’s a daily presenter on BBC Radio 3 and a contributor to the Wall Road Journal, Bloomberg, Standpoint, Sinfini and different publications. His weblog, Slipped Disc, is among the many most generally learn cultural websites on-line, breaking unique tales and campaigning in opposition to human abuse and acts of injustice within the cultural industries.