“Indeed, it is Janet Sung’s deft ability to sound equally at home in the modal neo-Classicisms of Vaughan Williams’s Violin Concerto, the heady gypsy incense of Ravel’s Tzigane and kaleidoscopic invention of Kenneth Hesketh’s Inscription-Transformation that is so compelling here.”
“Janet Sung shines in the lyrical episodes of Vaughan Williams’s Violin Concerto, most especially in the beautiful Adagio – Tranquillo central movement. … Kenneth Hesketh’s richly colourful and evocative orchestral soundscapes… complement Sung’s by turns gleaming harmonics, bird-like song and yearning lyricism.”
—BBC Magazine Reviews “The deeper the blue…”| SOMM Recordings
“Ravel’s Tzigane, a ten-minute musical obstacle course for only the bravest of violinists, Janet Sung dispatches without breaking a sweat. Ms. Sung returns in the company of the multi-talented pianist Simon Callaghan to give a fun-filled, jazzy, classy, bluesy an ultimately technically dazzling performance of a notoriously challenging Ravel work: the Sonata for Violin and Piano…an ultimately technically dazzling performance.”
“First, one has to acknowledge the daringly original program. Not very common for a debut album, violinist Janet Sung chose 2 main pieces from the 20th century by Enescu and Britten, along with 3 pieces by living composers…this makes for an impressive and highly enjoyable album.”
“This stellar sampling of Sung’s artistry shows that her virtuosity isn’t only a matter of her remarkable technical facility but also her ability to distill the emotional essence of a piece into lustrous physical form.”
“An engaging program and technically unimpeachable playing promise great things from this new addition to the roster of the American label Sono Luminus.”
“Cocking her ear more toward modern works, while still able to play the classics without a second thought, she commands center stage on this mostly solo release with maturity and confidence that you wish she could bottle and sell.”
“Her violin soars and climbs to the heavens in music that has gestural heft well beyond the Romantics, that instead enters realms that are in their way inimitable.”
“Janet Sung, assisted by pianist William Wolfram, gives an intriguing, technically awesome, and frequently moving program of works by two great 20th century composers and three up-coming contemporaries.”
—Atlanta Audio Club (under May 2019 Classical Reviews)
“Janet Sung developed a warm, bright tone with her Maggini violin dating back to 1600, making this work of the young Haydn a program highlight.”
—Kulturbuero Goettingen
“The solo part was entrusted by Hesketh to the American violinist Janet Sung. She interpreted it with excitement, technical brilliance and musically without any flaw. The audience rewarded the performance with a noticeably long and persistent applause.”
—Göttinger Tageblatt
“The US-American violinist Janet Sung played with a lot of intensity…great sound…confident technique…”
—Hessische Niedersächsische Allgemeine
“The Brahms Violin Concerto is the most-feared by many violinists, not necessarily because it is so unusually difficult from a technical standpoint, but because it requires a towering and confident musical personality to be convincing. Sung is a musical player with good instincts. She has both strength and conviction, and especially in the radiant slow movement, she demonstrated that Brahms, as dour and craft-conscious as he could sometimes be, was also capable of just singing.”
—The Hartford Courant
“In my role as concert reviewer, I typically find myself reaching into my stash of superlatives when describing guest soloists. After hearing Sung’s performance [of the Korngold Violin Concerto], I find myself really wishing I’d held a couple in reserve to describe this amazing virtuoso. She is truly a consummate and inspiring artist.”
—The Forum (Fargo, ND)
“Sung is an intelligent musician with an attractive tonal palette including both lustrous and husky timbre on the lower strings. She was persuasive in Debussy’s only Sonata for Violin and Piano, phrasing the music with notable clarity and purpose.”
—Mark Kanny, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Whether you were hearing this piece [Vivaldi The Four Seasons] for the first time or the 500th, Sung’s bravura work was enough to put you on the edge of your seat. It certainly earned her every bit of the lengthy (and wildly enthusiastic) standing ovation she received.”
—The Daily Telegram (Adrian, MI)
“Sung possesses an exquisite tone.”
“Janet Sung and Joanna Maurer’s well-matched tone and intonation worked well with Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins. In their hands, the communication of the duet became a riveting human conversation.”
—Gail Wein, The Washington Post
“Her sound is passionate, a kind of musical throwback… The Tchaikovsky was an eye-moistener, while the Ravel was hot-blooded…”
—Martin Sivitz, The Pittsburgh Press
“Janet Sung nearly blew the roof off as soloist in the Violin Concerto by Korngold… awe-inspiring.”
—Eric E. Harrison, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
“Sung dazzled the audience with a rendering [of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto] that was played with virtuosity and brilliance, and yet sensitive enough to allow the music itself to shine… in her hands the concerto was extraordinary.”
—Arlene Bachanov, The Daily Telegram (Adrian, MI)
“Guest soloist Janet Sung showed complete command of the [Korngold Violin Concerto in D], from its lighter, softer moments, to its more frantic, fast-paced interludes. Sung helped to make the piece fascinating.”
—The Corpus-Christi Caller-Times
“She is a major musical personality who blends bravura technique with a logical sense of musical style.”
—Leonard Slatkin, Conductor
“Janet plays with sincerity, passion and subtlety. She is also intelligent and this is the glue that holds everything together.”
—Philip Setzer, Violin, Emerson String Quartet