Janine Jansen – Bach: Inventions & Partita

15 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by Lady Fancifull in Baroque, Listening

Tags

Bach, Baroque Music, Classical music, Janine Jansen, Maxim Rysanov, Torleif Thedeen, Violin

Joyous and spring-like youthful verve and vigour

I found this quite by chance searching for some CDs featuring the viola player, Maxim Rysanov, who I have recently heard twice in concert.

This CD however is really violinist Janine Jansen‘s show, with the viola and/or cello (some are 2 part inventions, some 3 part) providing a lushly warm and generous cushion to allow Jansen’s violin to leap, spring, pirouette and generally sparkle above.

These pieces, apart from the long solo violin piece, are all short `Inventions’, designed, surely, for players to show off their artistry and hone their skills, encapsulating short musical ideas – in poetic terms, not even quite a sonnet, perhaps a haiku!

Played perhaps in a more romantic and less cool, dispassionate way than one might expect – the effect is of delight in sheer being. Jansen at times almost runs away with herself, such is the verve of her playing. Her violin is mischievous, even in the minor key, slower pieces, the sense of sadness and pathos is not a stuck thing, it won’t descend to unmoving depths of grief – deeply felt,for a moment, it will however move on. Her playing is rainbow like, sunshine and showers rather than arctic winters or parching hot summers.

It all works incredibly well, her delight in playing the music, almost playing WITH the music, brings a smile.

The advantage of these very short inventions is that you can have a quick burst of Bach before going on your way, without having failed to complete a journey, which I’m always aware of if I only listen to part of a longer work.

But for when there is time, the longer Partita no 2 in D minor for solo violin, gives more substantial fare, a 5 movement piece involving different rhythms for different dances. Jansen most suited I think to the more dynamic and playful movements – the Courante and Gigue particularly fine, proceeding skippingly along.

And here she is, with the Allemande from that Partita