Search - Sibelius, Schoenberg, Hilary Hahn :: Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47

Clearly she's among the giants

D. Sills | Savage, MD United States | 04/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm absolutely astonished with this recording. I'm an old string player with a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music and I have studied the Schoenberg Concerto for years. I know firsthand just how difficult it is (you literally have to learn a new way to finger some passages, using your ring finger and not the pinky for the highest notes because the ring finger can reach farther up on lower strings!).



But the difficulties are not only technical: the piece is VERY romantic and it's EXCEPTIONALLY hard to bring that to it. I never hoped in my lifetime to hear a recording of this concerto as natural and lyrical as this one. Hahn has captured perfectly the atmosphere and drama of the piece. This could easily do for the Schoenberg Concerto what Isaac Stern's recording of the Berg Concerto did for that work.



My amazement is made the more so by the fact that for years I resisted even listening to Hahn's recordings: too young, couldn't be ready for the works she was performing. When I finally did condescend to hear her, I immediately bought everything she had ever done. She's a superb performer (she and Janine Jansen are arguably the two most musical young violinists on the scene today; and Jansen has shown no signs of being nearly as adventurous).



But when I heard she had recorded the Schoenberg Concerto, I have to admit that even with that background, I was skeptical. The work is just too much - it's tempting to think that it's too much for a human being. I'm glad I never gave in to thinking that: now I know it isn't true. This recording is amazing!



About Salonen little need be said: everything he touches turns to gold. The orchestra, of course, could easily have ruined things; that they rise to the level demanded by such a superb soloist and conductor speaks volumes for their remarkable abilities. I look forward to hearing much more from them.



The Schoenberg Violin Concerto has finally joined the Piano Concerto as a major brainchild of the composer, not merely a respected but unheard stepsister. I know it's not quite so adventuresome, Hilary, but perhaps a Berg Concerto to go with this one? At the right tempi, which I know you (unlike so many) will find?

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Hahn, Schönberg, and the Greatest Violin Concerto...

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 04/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

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Ms. Hahn's brilliant realization of Schönberg's masterwork is absolute artistry of the highest order.



Mlle. Hahn has really done something remarkable here: she has deeply understood this piece not merely as an intellectual exercise, but sincerely as the profoundly moving passionately expressive work of art it is.

Hahn has illustrated trenchant insight here with crystal-clarity of vision.

She not only has the vast technical ability to execute the many challenges the work incorporates--(viz., pizzicato, double-stopping, glissandi, etc.)--but she has the maturity and psychic gravitas to appreciate the exquisite beauty of Schönberg's text.

She apprehends each section and passage--each phrase and sentence--and elucidates Schönberg's entire statement as a whole.

She reveals the singing, hyper-Romantic/Brahmsian melodies with great beauty while punctuating the echt-Modernistic dodecaphonic argument with precision.

The Swedish RSO also does an outstanding job with Schönberg's colourful and multifaceted score.

Bravo! Encore!!

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In addition: Ms. Hahn perfectly realizes the popular Sibelius Concerto. Methought I had wearied of the work through overexposure; well!--Ms. Hahn revitalizes the piece with thrilling panache.

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In conclusion: this gracious lady is a genuine artist with extraordinary talent and prescient vision.

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P.S.: there is a classic older reading by Zvi Zeitlin with Rafael Kubelik and the Bavarian Radio SO:

Berg: Violin Concerto; Schoenberg: Piano Concerto; Violin Concerto

Berg: Violin Concerto/Schoenberg: Violin Concerto

Schoenberg: Piano Concerto Op.42/Violin Concerto Op.36/Berg:Violin Concerto/Kubelik

Schoenberg (Master Musicians Series)

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Revelatory

Erik Tarloff | 05/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Schoenberg violin concerto is widely admired and widely studied, but it isn't much played, and it's never been much loved. This is partly because of the huge technical hurdles it presents fiddlers, but also because it isn't especially easy to bring off musically; in this regard it is unlike the piano concerto, say, which is far more accessible, and which offers up at least some of its beauties simply by being played accurately. I've heard most of the violin concerto performances previously committed to disc and never found them very pleasing; the soloist always seems to be eating his spinach like a good boy. As a consequence, I've always taken it to be one of Schoenberg's more rebarbative works, like the thoroughly unpleasant wind quintet. But Hillary Hahn has located the romantic soul of the piece --- she seems to see in it a kinship to a work like the Brahms concerto --- and delivers a performance that is not only technically thrilling but also very moving. It has fundamentally changed my opinion of this concerto; the score's mastery no longer feels predominantly theoretical, but rather, is characteristic of Schoenberg's masterpieces, big, generous-hearted, romantic.

The Sibelius performance is impeccable as well, but good performances of that very popular piece aren't so hard to come by. The Schoenberg is the reason to buy this CD."