Now she had been saying that she hasn't been to a concert for years. Now I was also aware that the BBC do a series of live lunchtime concerts that run for an hour. One such concert happened to be on her birthday so I asked would she be interested.... if one's hand can be bitten off from the other end of a key board mine was bitten off!
The concert was by the acclaimed Dutch violinist Janine Jansen and the pianist Itmar Golan. The programme was to be drawn from Jansen's latest album Beau Soir which showcases the works of French composers although the programme dropped the Ravel sonata for Violin and Piano in G major and replaced it with a piece by Schubert! (on the link you can here a track being played).
Jansen has been described as the queen of the downloads as I believe her recordings have done rather well on I-Tunes. I actually had a couple of her recordings (Vivaldi Four Seasons and Beethoven and Britten Violin concerto's) on my MP3 and they are very enjoyable.
Now I've NEVER been to a classical concert so I was unsure what to expect, my normal concert attire is a t-shirt and a pair of chinos, was I expected to wear a suit? Apparently yes!
We arranged to meet up with plenty of time to spare for the 1pm start. We were both early and had a pizza at Pizza Express.
The concert was held at St Luke's church a redundant church now used by the LSO.
The whole programme was to be:
Debussy Sonata in G Minor
Dubugnon La minute exquise; Hypnos; Retour à Montfort-l’Amaury
Messiaen Theme et variations
Schubert Sonata in A major D574
Now firstly I was over dressed not many people even bothered with a tie so I won't be bothering for the one Monday!
The Debussy was very nice, the Dubugnon sounded better live than it did on the album. Dubugnon is a modern composer and he was at the concert and came up to take a bow. For me the highlight was the Schubert - call me an old fuddy duddy if you like!
It's fascinating to watch a world class musician you appreciate how amazingly talented they are when you watch them.
A very enjoyable way to spend an hour.
4 comments:
It really was a great concert by two very talented people; and Janine Jensen played so movingly.
Watching someone like this play transcends all recorded verions of music...
It was amazing and a lovely way to spend my birthday. Thank you :)
You both clearly had a wonderful time. I had never heard of Janine Jansen but have listened to her on your recommendation and yes, I think she is very talented!
Pete, have you ever come across the Tin Hat Trio? They are contemporary and (I think) very different, I have a feeling you would like them. If you get a moment do Google them and have a listen to some of their work, I think it is brilliant!! I would be so interested to see what you think.
What a lovely thing to do for Tricia on her birthday. It sounds wonderful. So different when you're there to see the musicians in person.
ss - interesting
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