Hilary Hahn: Schönberg and Sibelius Violin Concertos

Is it concertos? I thought it was concerti… oh well. This CD came out recently and I heard/read all kinds of great things about it, and now I can confirm that all of those things were true – excellent record. I have some records by Hilary Hahn and I was surprised when I heard that she was recording Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto primarily because most of the other stuff she did was so… traditional. Actually, I have admit that I did not realize how much stuff she already recorded as I checked my own collection and I think now adding Schoenberg to her repertoire is a great thing – it is an amazing rendition, you should do yourself a favor and check it out. One thing I did not like about the recent Hahn-related material was the most boring documentary ever that just came out in 2007 – Hilary Hahn: A Portrait. 

Here’s a review from always insightful Ionarts:

What is it with Sibelius these days? We just reviewed Lisa Batiashvili’s recording of the Finnish composer’s daunting violin concerto, which has been performed a shocking number of times over the last couple years in these parts. Now, an Ionarts favorite performer and Baltimore’s favorite daughter, violinist Hilary Hahn, has taken on the Sibelius concerto in a new recording. As further proof of her serious-mindedness, Hahn has paired it with Schoenberg’s mostly unknown violin concerto, a work that we have never reviewed live and that is hardly over-recorded. In her charming liner note, Hahn relates that her first attempt to wrap her head around the Sibelius concerto was via headphones, between innings of an Orioles game, and that she had to special-order the Schoenberg score, since no music stores had it in stock. Read the rest.

Other Reviews:

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David Salvage, Three Moments musicaux with Hilary Hahn (Sequenza 21, February 27)

Andrew Clements, Schoenberg & Sibelius: Violin Concertos (The Guardian, March 7)

Geoff Brown, Hilary Hahn: Schoenberg/Silebius (The Times, March 14)

Norman Lebrecht, Schoenberg, Sibelius: Violin Concertos (Minneapolis Star-Times, March 15)

Matthew Rye, Schoenberg, Verdi, Bach and more: Classical CDs of the week (The Telegraph, March 22)

And here’s some videos is you have nothing else to do this fine Saturday afternoon:

Promotional Video:

And a performance of Sibelius: