Janine Jansen and Denis Kozhukhin at the Verbier Festival

By Zoltán Szabó, 27 July 2021

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“it almost felt as if we, the audience, were eavesdropping on a private discussion”

Reviewed at Eglise de Verbier, Verbier on 25 July 2021

Beethoven, Violin Sonata no. 7 in C minor, Op.30 no.2

Schumann C., 3 Romances for violin and piano, Op.22

Brahms, Violin Sonata no. 3 in D minor, Op.108

Kreisler, Three Old Viennese Dances: Liebesleid

Janine Jansen, Violin

Denis Kozhukhin, Piano

“Iron Man” Kozhukhin dominates in Prokofiev

Néstor Castiglione, 6th August

Denis Kozhukhin crushes Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, but guest conductor Ryan Bancroft is overwhelmed in Shostakovich 10.

***11

A suite of delights: Jörg Widmann and Lisa Batiashvili in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 10th April

A varied programme of chamber music charms the Berlin Phil, featuring works by Widmann and a premiere by young talent Tsotne Zedginidze.

****1

Vasily Petrenko delivers an Elgar 2 of rare distinction with the RPO

Alexander Hall, 27th March

Romanticism is the obvious link between Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto and Elgar's Second Symphony in this absorbing evening's entertainment supplied by Denis Kozhukhin, the RPO and its Music Director, Vasily Petrenko.

****1

Passionately committed Brahms from Janine Jansen and friends

Nick Boston, 21st December

Timothy Ridout, Daniel Blendulf and Denis Kozhukin join the Dutch violinist for intensely passionate performances of Brahms chamber works.

*****

Extrovert Rachmaninov from Kozhukhin and the Belgrade Philharmonic

Peter Connors, 6th October

In addition to Rachmaninov, the Belgrade Philharmonic and Jaume Santonja play Stevan Hrstić's atmospheric In the Countryside and excerpts from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.

****1

Ice but not much fire from Hannu Lintu and the BBC Symphony Orchestra

Alexander Hall, 17th February

Nothing quite ordinary or indeed comforting here, the heavy mixture of acid colouring in Lindberg, Ustvolskaya and Stravinsky not tempered by any opulence in Rachmaninov.

***11

More reviews...

Zoltán Szabó

Zoltán Szabó is a cellist and musicologist. Having migrated from his native Hungary to Australia in 1985, he worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney until 1991, when he became Principal Cello with Opera Australia. In 2017, he was awarded with a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). Currently, he is teaching music history and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

From the menacing to the nostalgic: Janine Jansen and Denis Kozhukhin at the Verbier Festival