Janoska Ensemble

Vienna’s Janoska Ensemble stakes out its own territory between classical tradition and popular idioms, a territory the family itself labels “Janoska Style.” The four musicians have issued several well-received albums for Deutsche Grammophon.

Three brothers born in Bratislava—Ondrej and Roman on violin, Frantisek at the piano—joined forces in 2013 with their brother-in-law, double bassist Julius Darvas, to create the group. The emphasis on rhythm already signals the direction of the music: it draws from the café repertoire of fin-de-siècle Vienna, weaving classical melodies together with Romani and broader Eastern European folk elements. Originally conceived to rise above the chatter of café patrons, the sound has since expanded through technical brilliance and a wider geographic and historical palette. All four members trained at the Bratislava conservatory rather than working as street or café players, and their programs therefore move beyond Fritz Kreisler’s Liebesleid to encompass more demanding Kreisler works as well as their own arrangement, “Paganinoska,” based on Paganini’s Caprice No. 24.

After signing with Deutsche Grammophon, the ensemble issued its first album, Janoska Style, in 2016. While remaining grounded in café music, the recording also ventures into jazz, incorporates a Cuban-rumba treatment of the opening movement from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, introduces folk forms such as the tarantella, and includes pieces by Argentine tango composer Astor Piazzolla. The group has performed at the Musikverein in Vienna, Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and other prominent halls, and it has joined bass-baritone Erwin Schrott for touring programs centered on tango repertoire.

Deutsche Grammophon released the follow-up album Revolution in 2019. Three years later came The Big B’s, containing the ensemble’s own transcriptions of works by Bach, Beethoven—including a nine-minute medley that condenses all nine symphonies—Brahms, and Bartók.