Those who heard this young Dutch violinist play The Lark Ascending at the Proms in July will appreciate that here is an artist of real magnetism. The booklet’s provocative portraits and emphasis on personal profile suggest just another young performer chosen more for looks than musical gifts. Happily, the playing tells a different story. Janine Jansen launches her sequence of popular items with an account of the ‘Danse Russe’ from Swan Lake which could hardly be more flamboyant, yet which also brings moments of the most delicate poetry.
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. (Edward Greenfield 11/2003 )
1.- Danse Russe (Tchaikovsky)
2.- Nocturne (Khachaturian)
3.- Havanaise, op. 83 (Saint-Säens)
4.- Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, op. 28 (Saint-Säens)
5.- Romance (Shostakovich)
6.- Schindler's List Main Theme (Williams)
7.- The Lark Ascending - Romance for Violin and Orchestra (Vaughan Williams)
8.- Tzigane - Rhapsodie de Concert (Ravel)

Janine Jansen, Violin
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth

Download Janine Jansen , Track 8