April 2006

Janine Jansen and the Junge Deutsch Phil.

April 6, 2006 15:02

The verdict is: Janine is not only pretty, but she also has substance.

She played the Prokofiev concerto with the German "youth" orchestra (which wasn't really a youth orchestra; most members looked to be in their twenties). Janine walked onto the stage with the conductor adorned in a bright red gown. The rest of the orchestra was clad in black. The concerto started out with the violin playing solo. She seemed to have some trouble projecting at first, but in the second and third movements, no such difficulties lingered. What I noticed most about Janine is her ability to have absolute control. Her bow arm was especially amazing. She could create a sad reminiscence or an obsessive battle-like fury. In the sensational third movement, there was some mad pizz-ing going on during which Janine stooped quite low; her head was barely over the 1st violin's stand and stared fiecely at them. If I were them, I would've been deathly afraid of "dream girl" Janine, but luckily, they remained composed. She had some very interesting stances while playing including: leaning way back (as if sitting), hunching way over (it looked like she was whispering to the conductor), and she also bobbed her head a lot while conquering tricky left-hand passages. The concerto ended very nicely and she had at least five curtain calls, but we couldn't coax her to play an encore.

All in all the concert was a success and I hope to see more of this virtuosic young violinist.

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