Violinist Janine Jansen Releases 12 STRADIVARI With Sir Antonio Pappano On Decca Classics

For the first time in history, 12 of Antonio Stradivari's finest violins have traveled across the world for a ground-breaking new project with violin superstar Janine Jansen. The resulting album - 12 Stradivari, out September 10, 2021 on Decca Classics - captures the individual characters of each instrument in a specially-curated program accompanied by Sir Antonio Pappano at the piano. The release also marks Jansen's first release with Decca in six years.

The project was devised by Steven Smith, Managing Director of the world's pre-eminent violin dealers, J&A Beare. Having worked with Stradivari instruments his entire career, he wanted to bring 12 of the very best violins together to show their brilliance and also their differences. He also wanted to record for posterity their sounds in one single, unique record and approached Jansen and Decca for the extraordinary challenge. Smith knew where in the world the 12 violins for this project were and who owned them. In spite of the numerous logistic challenges of aligning the schedules of all the owners and players at a time when travelling was at its most difficult, he was able to create a two-week period when all violins could be flown to London. Many of these multi-million dollar Stradivari have not been played for many decades and, possibly, have never been commercially recorded before. Others belonged to legendary virtuosi including Fritz Kreisler, Nathan Milstein, Ida Haendel, and Oscar Shumsky.

Jansen says, "When Steven Smith approached me about this project, I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity! It was my chance to experience the magic of these famous instruments and to explore the differences between them, especially bearing in mind that some of them have not been played in many years. I was very fortunate to be able to share this experience with my wonderful collaborator Sir Antonio Pappano."

This unique project is brilliantly captured through an unmissable documentary directed by BAFTA-winning Gerry Fox, Janine Jansen: Falling for Stradivari, slated for release on September 2, 2021. The film follows Jansen's unrepeatable experience of discovering each instrument's individual qualities and immense capabilities. Her working relationship with Sir Antonio Pappano reveals the astounding energy, dedication and abundance of creativity needed to conquer such a formidable challenge.

Jansen's recording debut in 2003 achieved epic success within the initial rise of digital sales, and to date she has 850,000 units sold with Decca and over 100 million streams. She has won numerous prizes, including the Herbert-von-Karajan Preis 2020, the Vermeer Prize 2018 awarded by the Dutch government, five Edison Klassiek Awards, NDR Musikpreis for outstanding artistic achievement, the VSCD Klassieke Muziekprijs for individual achievement, Bremen MusikFest Award, the Concertgebouw Prize and the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award, to name just a few.

About Janine Jansen

Award-winning violinist Janine Jansen works regularly with the world's most eminent orchestras and conductors. Her long standing orchestra relationships include the Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, NHK Symphony, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, New York Philharmonic Orchestra among others. Janine records exclusively for Decca Classics.

Aside from her successful Vivaldi's Four Seasons recording back in 2003, her discography includes performances of Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra and Brahms' Violin Concerto with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. Other recording highlights include Beethoven and Britten with Paavo Järvi, Mendelssohn and Bruch with Riccardo Chailly, Tchaikovsky with Daniel Harding, Prokofiev Concerto No 2 with Vladimir Jurowski as well as two recordings featuring works by J.S. Bach. Janine has also released a number of chamber music discs, including Schubert's String Quintet and Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht and Sonatas by Debussy, Ravel and Prokofiev with pianist Itamar Golan.

She is Guest Artistic Director at the International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht, a festival she founded back in 2003. Since 2019 she is Professor of Violin at the HÉMU Sion (Haute École de Musique Vaud Valais Fribourg). Janine studied with Coosje Wijzenbeek, Philipp Hirshhorn and Boris Belkin.

Janine Jansen plays the Shumsky-Rode Stradivarius from 1715, on generous loan by a European benefactor.

12 Stradivari Track List

1. Manuel de Falla (arr. Kreisler) - "Danse Espagnole" from La Vida Breve
2. Kreisler - Liebesleid
3. Kreisler - Syncopation
4. Heuberger (arr. Kreisler) - Midnight Bells (after Der Opernball)
5. Suk (arr. Jaroslav Kocian) - Píseň láska (Liebeslied/Song of Love)
6. Clara Schumann - Romance nr 1 from 3 Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22
7. Robert Schumann - Fantasiestücke for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73
8. Vieuxtemps - Romance nr. 2 Désespoir from 3 Romances sans paroles, Op. 7
9. Tchaikovsky (arr. Auer) - "Arie des Lensky" from Eugene Onegin
10. Szymanovski - "La fontaine d'Aréthuse" from Mythes No. 1 for violin and piano, Op. 30
11. Ravel (trasc. Georges Catherine) - Piéce en forme de Habanera
12. Elgar - Sospiri, Op.12
13. Rachmaninov - Mvt. III (Andante) from Sonata for Piano and Cello Op.19
14. Tchaikovsky (arr. Auer) - Mélodie for Violin and Piano, Op.42, No.3
15. Kern/Harbach - "Yesterdays" from Roberta

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