Music : Hilary Hahn ~ Brahms · Stravinsky

Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0696998964921
Label: Sony
Manufacturer: Sony
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: November 13, 2001
Studio: Sony
Sales Rank: 29423
MPN: 89649

Disc 1:

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Hilary Hahn is not only one of the best, but one of the most interesting young violinists before the public. Even as a teenager, she seemed uninterested in displaying her formidable technical mastery, concentrating instead on the music with a seriousness far beyond her years. Now 21, she has become a thoughtful, knowledgeable musician and an arresting, involved performer. Both qualities are reflected in this recording, beginning with the choice of the two concertos, which are entirely dissimilar--except for being in the same key--yet make an excellent pair, and extending to the program notes, which blend personal reminiscence and scholarly research.

As for the playing, it is extraordinary. Technical difficulties do not exist. Even the most daunting passages, like the infamous G-major section in the Finale of the Brahms and the wild running-around in the Stravinsky, are dispatched with perfect clarity and consummate, effortless ease. Hahn's tone is intense, focused, variable, and of pristine purity in all registers, at all dynamic levels. She never loses her sense of meter or direction; her phrases have shape and elegance; and she needs no external effects. Her playing is austere and controlled, with an inward, noble expressiveness; she can change tone and mood on a dime. In the Brahms, the high soaring passages are ecstatic, the Finale is quite fast and very strict; only the Joachim cadenza is almost too free. Altogether, it's a most impressive achievement. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Tepid Brahms, Odd Stravinsky
Brahms wrote the greatest romantic violin concerto. Szeryng and Monteux understood it. Perlman and Guilini understood it. But neither Hahn nor her conductor understand it. The Stravinsky, on the other hand, is very good for three of the four movements. However, the third movement drags as if Stravinsky's concerto needed a dreamy adagio. It doesn't, as Stern's recording with Stravinsky illustrates.

Rating:

- An interpretation of Stravinsky's Violin Concerto that stands apart
Here is why Hilary Hahn's recording of Stravinsky's Concerto is not only a fine interpretation, but also one that stands apart.

Stravinsky was notoriously touchy about how his works should be played: he countenanced no interpretive liberty. Going exactly by the score was a starting point, but wasn't enough. Stravinsky was also defiant of the score's ability to convey ALL the composer's intentions. After all, there aren't so many ways to mark an accent, and so many ways to PLAY it. And ... Read More

Rating:

- Absolute reference material here...
For some reason, I never got around to getting a recording of the Brahms concerto even though I've had the other warhorses (i.e. Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky) for awhile. After hearing Joshua Bell give a live performance, it rekindled my fondness for the concerto and I just had to get my hands on a good recording of it. After listening to several samples on Amazon, the sample recording of this CD was the only one I kept coming back to, so I took the plunge and boy, am I glad I did. Hilary's playing here ... Read More

Rating:

- Finger Gymnastics
Anyone who plays a stringed instrument appreciates a player's player. I'm a guitarist who had the privelege to see and hear Hilary Hahn perform a Goldmark piece with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra yesterday. Simply put, this lady is the Joe Satriani of the violin. I was unaware of her before; now I want everything she's recorded.

Rating:

- Classicalist approach to Brahms--amazing
A more classical approach to Brahms then say, Bell did in his recording--this is a really great album. The gem is (surprisingly) the Stravinsky Concerto. Well done!

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