main page
"To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
|
click here for a bigger sunset
One small voice in the proud tradition of FreeBlogging*
Friday, May 30, 2003
posted by gbarto at 4:40 AM:
Review. Hilary Hahn. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto. Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1.
Before starting in earnest, I must confess a few prejudices. I've been a fan of Hilary Hahn since her debut album, Hilary Hahn plays Bach, recorded when she was 14 or so. That album revealed a very promising artist; her interpretation of the chaconne from the Third (?) Partita, in particular, showed that while she would need time to develop, she had both the skill and the understanding of music necessary to go places. The second prejudice I must confess is that Shostakovich is my favorite composer and his Violin Concerto No. 1 is among my three or four favorite pieces of classical music, along with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17, Mendelssohns' Scottish Symphony and Shostakovich's own Piano Concerto No. 1.
Having exposed my biases toward Hahn, Shostakovich and particulary his Violin Concerto, and even Mendelssohn, it's time for the big question: Did all three come together as well as a fan of them would wish? Pretty well. Of the Mendelssohn piece, I don't have a lot to say except that it's breathtakingly beautiful in its conception and this recording captures that. Don't know the piece? Of course you do. Its opening bars have been featured in the commercials for just about every "Best of Classical Music" tv offer ever aired. Like all of Mendelssohn, it is blissfully romantic in that lush, lovely way that makes you want to dance across an overgrown meadow in the afternoon, then with night sleep among the grasses while awaiting Shakespearean fairies. Even the Scottish Symphony manages to slip in a balmy afternoon in the fields, which I understand is more than you can say of anything else Scottish. Hahn and the orchestra, as I say, capture this quite nicely; the violin playing is smooth and rich, then lilting, as appropriate; the orchestra sings along in a most delightful way and what one finds is bliss.
The Shostakovich Violin Concerto is trickier for me to decide upon, perhaps because I already had a favorite recording, that done by Lydia Mordkovich and the Scottish National Orchestra (conducted by Neeme Jarvi). Mordkovich was a pupil of David Oistrakh, who debuted the work and to whom it was dedicated. She learned it from him, which leads one to assume that she had the inside scoop on how it was to be played. And her presentation is much sharper, much more strident, than others. Many passages that trend syrupy in other recordings are clear, focused, and razor sharp, making the listener feel the bow strike the strings as Mordkovich attacks succeeding measures. This, I think, better captures the tone of the work, which was, after all, composed during a time when Shostakovich was unsure how Stalin's personal front page denunciation (in Pravda) of him and the type of music he was writing in would play out.
The typical Hilary Hahn album reveals that she does her homework before playing a piece. As with all her albums, she has done the liner notes and these tell the story of the piece quite nicely. Her playing follows suit. Hahn's presentation of the Violin Concerto is not nearly so harsh as Mordkovich's, but it is sharp all the same, and if it trends lyrical, it at least is not sappy or saccharine; she and the orchestra have not softened many edges but merely drawn out to the fullest the musicality of what's there - as best as this amateur can deduce. And there's a bonus that makes this recording one to have. Hahn notes of the second movement:
[It is] a whirling dervish scherzo (rarely played at the tempo indicated in the score)...In this recording, it is played at tempo and it is a wonder to behold. Typical recordings, including Mordkovich's, offer up a mysterious scene where things spring up out of nowhere, but because the playing is slower, the dervishes tend to plonk about, only occasionnally flitting. Hahn's spin up out of the music and dance amusingly about before twirling back away out of sight in a madcap dance. This, I'm sure, would have pleased Shostakovich, who could not see fast music played fast enough (when he played his music at the piano, the fast sections went by with blinding speed and the final recordings tended to be several minutes shorter than those by other artists). I know it pleased me. On the other hand, Hahn's cadenza runs a little too smoothly in places; the violin starts to sing before realizing this is not the place nor the time for that and there is a slight awkwardness that follows as she lunges into the next rather brusquer section. This bothered me on first hearing, though having heard the section three or four times I find myself comparing the passage to Mordkovich's presentation less and simply enjoying it for what it is more. On the whole, I'm happy, particularly because of the way the scherzo came out. So then, three and three-quarter stars for a wonderful album.
Update: On fifth hearing, I've gotten used to the cadenza from Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1. Again, a strong recommendation for this recording.
* * *
French Elections, 1st round
Second round special page
Second Round Results Map
The TurkeyBlog main page contains only the 20 most recent entries.
To go further back, check the archive in the right hand bar.
