Vivaldi: The Four Seasons - Janine Jansen

Janine Jansen (Artist), Antonio Vivaldi (Composer) (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 11, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B0007ZIYM4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,999 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Youthfull energy and passion aplenty, October 27, 2005

By 

Steven J. Denfeld "A seriously casual classic... (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons - Janine Jansen (Audio CD)

As is quoted in the liner notes, "A wrong note played with the right intention is much to be preferred to the right note played with no soul" pretty much sums up what this album is all about. The intent, obvious from the first note, is Passion and great quantities of it.

If the listener is one who, above all prefers precision and accuracy, look elsewhere. If, however one craves soul and passion in a spirited performance, this recording will bring much pleasure, with many repeated listenings being inevitable.

Jansen's account is easily the most exciting performance I've yet heard of these much loved favorites.

Any moment wasted trying to decide whether to buy this album or not is another moment not basking in it's wonderful wash of sound.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OOOO-WEEEEE!, June 2, 2006

By 

Billy the Yak (Clemson, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons - Janine Jansen (Audio CD)

The Janine Jansen recording of that old Vivaldi standard "The Four Seasons" (which itself is bordering on being hackneyed through over-use) just arrived. As one review I read somewhere noted, it is indeed probably not for most folks. Only eight instruments are used: 2 violins (Jansen plays a Strad.), viola, cello, double bass, box organ, theorbo(!!), and harpsichord.
This one DEMANDS that you pay attention to it; it is absolutely chock-full of subtlety and nuance that the casual listener would probably fail to appreciate, if not find downright grating in places. If you seek background music for your garden party, there are dozens of excellent recordings of this work that fit that bill.

I've heard things in the score I've never heard in other recordings, even discounting a bit of improvisational embellishment. The excessive voluptuousness of full string orchestra often mooshes everything out into an easily digestible pablum for public consumption.

She handles both serene and frenetic passages with the ability one would expect from the temporary custodian of a Stradivarius. Her tempi (and transitions) are often surprising, as are the dynamics. There are times when one feels the instruments are being pushed right to their limits, (occasionally sounding like it verges on instrument abuse) thus generating tonal qualities seldom heard in this piece. I am mightily impressed.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, Quite Original, Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" From Janine Jansen, July 8, 2008

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons - Janine Jansen (Audio CD)

Startling, exciting, and quite original, are the very words to describe Janine Jansen's unique, quite insightful, interpretation of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons". While there are many fine recordings of this work, with the best of the relatively recent crop include Mutter's and Chang's, Jansen's recording deserves ample praise simply for its bold, daring performance of Vivaldi's concerti cycle. Why? Hers is quite literally a stripped-down interpretation, consisting of herself, five other strings (two violins, viola, cello and double bass), theorbo and box organ/harpsichord. It is a tightly knit ensemble that includes American violinist Julian Rachlin, her brother Maarten (cello) and her father Jan (box organ/harpsichord). This allows for a "wonderfully transparent sound" that allowed "the musicians to be very flexible in colouring, dynamics and timing", as she notes in the CD liner notes. An ensemble that has yielded a very brisk, and very spirited, interpretation of these Vivaldi pieces. Needless to say, Decca's sound engineers have done a superlative job in this recording, which was made back in the Spring of 2004 in a Dutch concert hall. If there is only one false note that might be seized upon by detractors of Ms. Jansen's exceptional talents as a fine young classical musician, then it is the existence of appealing, quite alluring, photographs of her in rather revealing gowns on virtually every page of the CD liner notes; however, do not use these as a guide to determine whether or not you should acquire what is truly an exciting, rather invigorating, interpretation of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons".