Zinging strings: Janine Jansen leads an all-Stradivarius octet

Janine Jansen, Denis Kozhukhin, Pierre Colombet and Gabriel Le Magadure

Janine Jansen, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Timothy Ridout, Kian Soltani and Quatuor Ébène

By Mark Pullinger, 21 December 2022

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“Jansen’s tone, dusky in its lower register, had silky chestnut sweetness at the top”

Reviewed at Cadogan Hall, London on 19 December 2022

Chausson, Concert in D major for violin, piano and string quartet, Op.21

Mendelssohn, String Octet in E flat major, Op.20

Janine Jansen, Violin

Quatuor Ébène

Pierre Colombet, Violin

Gabriel Le Magadure, Violin

Marie Chilemme, Viola

Raphaël Merlin, Cello

Alexander Sitkovetsky, Violin

Timothy Ridout, Viola

Kian Soltani, Cello

Denis Kozhukhin, Piano

Igudesman & Joo

The power of clarity: Quatuor Ébène at the Concertgebouw

Antonio D'Amato, 8th November

The Quatuor Ébène deliver striking clarity and deep musical understanding in performances of Mozart, Debussy and Brahms.

*****

Echoes of Youth: the Belcea and Ébène Quartets at Carnegie Hall

Edward Sava-Segal, 14th November

A concert of Mendelssohn and Enescu octets which proves that eight can be more than four plus four.

****1

A game of numbers: Belcea Quartet and Quatuor Ébène play octets

Alexander Hall, 28th May

Sometimes you just marvel at the level of musical inspiration and the virtuosic quality of the playing. The two octets by Mendelssohn and Enescu make a very satisfying pairing.

****1

New cellist, same radiating intensity: Quatuor Ébène at Zankel Hall

Edward Sava-Segal, 5th April

A programme consisting of works from three different centuries illustrated the French ensemble's versatility and acumen.

*****

A greatly accomplished performance by the Quatuor Ébène at Zankel Hall

Edward Sava-Segal, 30th March

One would never had guessed that the Ébènes had not played Shostakovich's dark Eighth String Quartet before this tour, such was the way their performance transcended individual agony to address human despair in general.

*****

Quatuor Ébène sends its audience home on a round of good cheer

Alexander Hall, 15th October

The leading French quartet Quatuor Ébène makes a mighty leap from a pre-revolutionary world in 1772 to the turbulence of 1923, only to return to sheltered calm in 1842: works by Haydn, Janáček and Schumann.

****1

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Zinging strings: Janine Jansen leads an all-Stradivarius octet at Cadogan Hall