The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra concert that will take place on 28 April, 7 pm, is likely to become the key event of the 2009/2010 concert season at the National Philharmonic Hall. The stage will be shared by violinist Janine Jansen, recently dubbed ‘the queen of the downloads’ after a massive increase in the number of her records downloaded from iTunes, and violist Maxim Rysanov, named ‘Young Artist of the Year’ by major classical music magazine Gramophone a couple of years ago. After hearing him, Yuri Bashmet exclaimed “my rival has arrived!” At a concert in Vilnius, these elite string players will perform works by Schubert, Mozart and Bulgarian-born composer Dobrinka Tabakova, whose music famous American composer John Adams described as “extremely original and rare music.”

Ever since her Concertgebouw debut in 1997, Janine Jansen has been a huge star in her native Holland. Her triumphant London debut in November 2002 was quickly followed by invitations from some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, as well as NHK Symphony Orchestra. “From the Dutch provinces onto the world stage,” wrote the press at that time. In the US, she is on her way to pop star status: her album Vivaldi's Four Seasons (recorded in 2005) broke into the US Top 20 albums on iTunes, becoming that year's top-selling digital classical album, and it remains a digital best-seller 3 years on.

“Janine Jansen has the looks of a 1940s screen siren,” wrote US daily Star-Ledger. Indeed, her exceptional beauty is discussed in nearly all reviews, each time arriving at the conclusion that the beauty of her musical interpretations is in no way inferior. Many critics note that apart from flawless technique, which liberates and empowers the sound of her Stradivari violin, Janine Jansen is distinguished for her ability to refresh the music heard thousands of times before, bringing the original spontaneity back to it. For example, the sensationally popular chamber recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons was noted for anti-historical and authoritative personal interpretation.

Soon after this famed album, Janine Jansen, together with violist Maxim Rysanov and cellist Torleif Thedéen, have recorded an album of J.S.Bach’s music Inventions and Partitia, which once again topped the iTunes classical charts around the world. These string players were the first classical music performers to be invited to participate at the Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) series. The paths of the violinist and the soloist and conductor of this concert Maxim Rysanov often cross at the recording studio and at various chamber ensemble performances. Presently, they both are part of the classical music performers’ elite; and certain parallels might be traced in their biographies too, including the same names of halls, festivals and symphony orchestras, as well as the names of conductors and performers.

Born in the Ukraine and currently residing in London, violist Maxim Rysanov is also distinguished for his ‘mind-blowing’ (Gramophone) interpretations. Along the classical and romantic repertoire, he is also greatly interested in contemporary music and performs the premieres of works of the 21st century. Quite often his contemporary repertoire includes works by Dobrinka Tabakova, one of which – Suite in Old Style – will be included in this concert’s programme. Tobias Fisher, the editor of German web magazine Tokafi wrote about the music of the young composer: “The term ‘avant-garde’ is changing and Dobrinka is one of those lending it a new meaning. Her credo… consists of a simple basic idea: That something new can always be found, even in the most familiar places. Her music, therefore, sets out to explore this zone of familiarity and the unknown, never drawing any borders.”