Janine Jansen/ Klaus Mäkelä & Oslo Philharmonic: Sibelius & Prokofiev – Violin Concertos (UHQCD)

When two of the greats of contemporary classical music perform together, expectations are high. Dutch violinist Janine Jansen’s first concert album after a nine-year hiatus was eagerly awaited – and delighted fans and critics alike.

On her European tour with conductor Klaus Mäkela and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, she performed violin concertos by Sibelius and Prokofiev. Jansen is undoubtedly one of the elite in her field, as she proves on this recording, especially with her magnificent interpretation of Sibelius.

UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to the softer photopolymer for scratch protection. The combination results in significantly reduced reflection of laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with standard CD players. Musically, the result is a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.

While Universal Music Japan’s first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, with increasing popularity, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now appearing. Typically, the Universal Archive master tapes are re-converted to DSD for this purpose. UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not own an SACD player.

Lista pieselor

Jean Sibelius

Violin Concerto in D Minor Op. 47

1. Allegro moderato

2. Adagio di molto

3. Allegro ma non tanto

Sergei Prokofiev

Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major Op. 19

4. Andantino

5. Scherzo. Vivacissimo

6. Moderato. Allegro moderato