Janine Jansen: Brahms and Bartók review – every phrase says something

Jansen/Accademia di Santa Cecilia/Pappano
(Decca)Janine Jansen’s recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto – a landmark disc for any violinist – is taken live from concerts in Rome with Antonio Pappano and his Santa Cecilia orchestra. Their sound is rich and weighty, the better to support Jansen’s interpretation, itself heavyweight yet characteristically mercurial. Jansen’s playing glows, and the second theme of the first movement really sings; here and throughout, th