The Week in Reviews, Op. 455: Janine Jansen, Blake Pouliot, Kronos Quartet

June 25, 2024, 6:29 PM · In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world.

Violinist Janine Jansen. Photo by Marco Borggreve.

Janine Jansen and clarinetist Martin Fröst performed the UK premiere of Sally Beamish's "Distans" for clarinet and violin and orchestra with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Arcana: "Jansen also fully inhabited the spirit of the piece, though her part often felt within that of the clarinet, and rarely used the high register. This was definitely a work to hear again, for Beamish’s sound world is a very attractive one in concert."
The Guardian: "Beamish’s solo writing is nothing if not exacting: Jansen and Fröst sounded virtuosic and exquisite throughout."
Bach Track: "The virtuosic demands on the soloists are high, with both players here demonstrating their exemplary command."

Blake Pouliot performed Lou Harrison's Concerto for Violin and Percussion Orchestra with Third Coast Percussion.

Arts Fuse: "Pouliot’s presence was felt from the get-go. To open, he unspooled an angular melody with a wine-dark tone. The performance only grew increasingly intense from there."

The Kronos Quartet performed at its 50th-anniversary season Kronos Festival.

San Francisco Classical Voice: "The Quartet purposefully sounded smarmy or whiny but was always in faultless coordination. A section (in Nicole Lizée’s Black MIDI) that had the four tearing newspaper pages drew giggles from the nearly full house. In another section, the players beat their strings with sticks. The audience seemed particularly amused by Lizée’s filming of flip-books, another facet of her deconstruction of musical technology."

Daniel Pioro performed the Britten Violin Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

The Guardian: "Pioro’s approach to the Britten Violin Concerto was one of magnetic intensity....In his performance, the sense of living-in-the-moment risk-taking was always implicit, Pioro connecting anew with the composer and with his audience."

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 455: Janine Jansen, Blake Pouliot, Kronos Quartet

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