Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47
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CD Details
Brand: HAHN,HILARYComposer: Sibelius
Composer: Schoenberg
Performer: Hilary Hahn
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2008-04-08
Music Label: DG
Soundtracks:
- 1 Poco allegro
- 2 Andante grazioso
- 3 Finale: Allegro
- 1 Allegro moderato
- 2 Adagio di molto
- 3 Allegro, ma non tanto
Music reviews of Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47
Music Review: Sublime Sibelius
Rating: 5 Stars
This review doesn't touch on the Schoenberg - almost without exception, all other reviewers praise Ms Hahn's recording of it, and I agree with them completely. It's the reaction to the Sibelius which fascinates me: very divided, with more tending to be negative. Too bland, cold and detached. I strongly disagree.
The Sibelius has always struck me as structurally disjointed, particularly the first movement. Musical ideas appear and subside, half-developed, with little sense of architecture. It was only when I heard the original version of the concerto, recorded (on BIS) for the first time by Greek violinist, Leonidas Kavakos, that I understood how these disparate ideas were in truth connected when originaly woven together. The substantially revised version of the work (invariably heard today) pared much of the music back to its stark raw material, which familiarity has helped us to smooth over.
Ms Hahn's reading of the work restores that greater sense of unity found in the original version. She achieves this by avoiding sudden extremes in mood and tempi. Her arcs are smoother and longer, allowing the musical ideas room to breathe, to evolve naturally from one to another.
Many ears find the result lacking in romatic fire and disappointing. On the contrary, Ms Hahn's reading is intensely brooding and contemplative in the first movement, wonderfuly melodic in the second, and naturally rhapsodic in the third. Her playing throughout is never harsh or forced, but radiant and lyrical. Which is not to say she never plays with fire: listen to the 2 notes that open the cadenza in the first movement at 7:15-7:20. They strike terror in me every time I hear them.
True it is that Ms Hahn's reading is slightly unorthodox, but it captures that quintessentially Finnish aura found in Sibelius' symphonies and orchestral works better than most other recordings. Her playing is of the highest order, the balance with the SRSO is spot on, and Mr Salonen's conducting is superb, revealing previosuly unheard nuances in the score.
Five stars.
Description of Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47
In another original pairing violinist Hilary Hahn brings together the familiar, highly commercial and long-awaited recording of the famous Sibelius Violin Concerto with the rarely performed Violin Concerto by Arnold Schoenberg. Hahn brings out the romantic qualities of Schoenberg's Concerto--known as one of the most difficult pieces in the violin repertoire--showing why it makes an ideal coupling with the Sibelius--"Hahn didn't merely play the notes, she passionately engaged with them." (The Daily Telegraph on a live performance of the Schoenberg Violin Concerto). As both an acclaimed Sibelius interpreter and a known advocate of 20th-century music in concert halls worldwide, Esa-Pekka Salonen is the ideal musical partner in this project.Few would argue that Sch?nberg's Violin Concerto makes for easy listening. Its angular expressions, weird, heavenly decoration and the long solos that seem designed to maim the violinist can be, simply, too much. Hilary Hahn, on this new CD, plays the work as if it were an outgrowth of Romanticism (which it is), rather than the start of a musical revolution (which it also was) and the result is lyrical, songlike, and, well, Romantic. Yes, the 12-tone thorniness is clear, but each melody makes sense not only within itself, but throughout the whole concerto. If the first movement puzzles, the Andante sounds practically like a Viennese Waltz and the finale is not only like a feat by a virtuoso, but a culmination. This is the most approachable performance of this work available. The Sibelius concerto gets a fine if unusual reading. Hahn plays it with a Nordic coolness; the first movement's long melodies have less passion than the listener will be accustomed to and even the finale, normally played with somewhat of a bellicose nature, comes off without much heat. But it certainly cannot be faulted as sheer gorgeous playing and neither can Esa-Pekka Salonen's accompaniments. -- Robert Levine
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