Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Bernstein: Serenade

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hilary Hahn's recording of Beethoven's great Violin Concerto sets the standard for contemporary performances of this piece. Her technique alone would make her a great musician. What is even more impressive is that she applies her technique in a thoughtful, musical manner. A recording musician today should be able to give an adequate technical performance of any given piece--what separates Hahn from the rest is that the music comes first, with her technique as its outlet, rather than the music being a showcase for talent.

The Beethoven Violin Concerto is indisputably one of the top violin (or any instrument, for that matter) concertos ever written. It is a remarkable piece in that it is not as note-heavy as, say, Tchaikovsky's, but is more complex. The second movement is especially wonderful, beginning with a longer-than-typical theme by the soloist that is at its heart simple, yet elegant. The soloist then guides the orchestra in exploring the theme, leading it down one path, then following another, agreeing here, contrasting there. It's a doctoral thesis in the art of the concerto as a conversation between soloist as master of his or her craft and orchestra as equal partners.

The thing that Beethoven did so well that none will ever be his equal at it is to take a relatively simple theme--I, a non-musician, can play the main themes from two of the greatest symphonies ever composed, the Fifth and the Ninth, on my toddler's five-note toy piano!--and make it great through repetition and variation of melody and harmony. Beethoven could write a piece that used the same theme a hundred times and you'd still feel like it was fresh at the conclusion. So it is with the third movement of this concerto.

Hahn and Zinman excel in this recording because they capture the essence of this music--simple themes musically done in a manner where both soloist and orchestra contribute. One certainly wouldn't have Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on the tip of one's tongue when asked about the greatest orchestras today--thoroughly competent, to be sure, but not the best of the best. What Zinman does so well in this recording is to not exaggerate the piece. The dynamics and tempos of the piece are kept in a moderate range--no fireworks where a candle is called for. And perhaps as a great athlete improves the abilities of teammates, so Hahn lends her technique, restraint, and intelligence to the orchestra.

Let's face it, no one's buying this for the Bernstein. It's a good performance of a decent piece, but it's not why you'll reach for this CD over and over. It's something of an ironic pairing; if ever there was a conductor who bludgeons listeners with Beethoven (outside of an excellent recording of the Third with the Vienna Philharmonic) more than Bernstein I don't know who it is.

Wrapping up: this CD has joined the Menuhin/Furtwangler recording as my favorite performance of this supreme Violin Concerto.

Protege Hilary Hahn has done an amazing job on this piece.
The booklet included contains interesting information on the composers as well as Hilary herself.
Hilary's tone is very sweet, but she still has an amazing amount of power. Each note is very pronouced and clear, as well as artistic. I own the score to this piece, and Hilary doesn't miss one single note, either.
If you combine her performance with the Beethoven concerto, the effect is marvelous. The piece has every emotion imaginable, and the transitions, written in the piece as well as played by Hilary are very smooth and subtle.
The Leonard Bernstein piece is very different from the Beethoven concerto. Each movement settles on one emotion, so there are no transitions, and each movement seems like a seperate piece. It will be hard to listen to this piece after the Beetrhoven concerto, and I usually turn my stereo off after the finale of the Beethoven concerto. still, the Berstein piece is really great. I recommend that you listen to the pieces seperately.
I recommend this CD over recordings made by Anne-Sophie Mutter, Midori, Josh(ua) Bell, and Sarah chang. You will not regret buying this CD. It is a truly PERFECT addition to any music library.
-Ian Snyder

Having listened to all of Hahn's recordings, this coupling is the best. Hahn's sound is so intensely controlled and her intonation is much better than I expected. She plays the First movement of the Beethoven with dexterity and octaves runs as if they do not bother her at all. The straightforward confidence style of playing in the second was a welcoming surprise. Hahn's vibrato has developed finely since her Barber/Meyer recording. It is now more...suave than before. And the lucidity of the third is much better than the Bell version.
The Bernstein Serenade speaks for itself...It may be even better than the premier artist, Isaac Stern. But I cannot comment against my favorite artist

I heard Hahn perform the Beethoven in January of 2000 with the L.A. Phil and was moved beyond words. I had heard about her before but hadn't listened to her yet. I had already thought in my mind that she was just another young violinist with a good technique but nothing special. I expected to be dissapointed like I have been by Vengerov and Chang. With the first note of the her violin I was suddenly struck dumb. She played with a flawless, flawless intonation. Her tone was never muffled or crunched even in the Kreisler cadenzas. I've never heard those cadenzas played so beautifully and perfectly. Her tempo was wonderful. Too many violinists are taking the Beethoven at a tempo that is too slow. Hahn chose a perfectly brisk tempo and did not lose anything because of it. With her there is finally a violinist that has the potential to stand above the rest. We've been in need of one of those for a while. In speaking to Ms. Hahn after the perfomance I was very happy to find her to be just like any other 20 year old. She could very well have been my next door neighbor. She was so unasuming with not a trace of ego. In Hahn I see the violinist for us for the next 40 or so years. She can control the violin world just as Heifetz did for the better part of the 20th century.

The first thing you ask me is do I like this CD. Yes, it's very pretty. How about the recording? Actually, I don't like the sound engineering. How about the performer Hilary Hahn? She's fantastic!

I've been listening to Hilary for less than six months, since discovering her by chance. After about 30 seconds I came to the conclusion that this girl is as great a violinist as I've ever heard. Her intonation is perfect, her tone gorgeous, like velvet, better than Heifitz. I've heard them all. Hilary is from the Bel Canto school of violin playing.

Unfortunately, I can't give similar praise to the sound engineering. Several of your reviewers have complained about Miking, too close, too far. Well, I guess it comes down to whether or not you want to hear Hilary or the Orchestra. I bought this recording to hear Hilary and what I got was a solo recording of the orchestra with Hilary struggling to be heard in the background. I agree that the orchestral part of Beethoven's only violin concerto is beautiful but I've been listening to it for 61 years (I'm 72) and I think I've got it down. Conversely, I was trained in the violin and I want to hear the violinist and if you drown out the violinist with the orchestra how can I hear what Hilary is doing? Let me put it another way. Is this a violin concerto or an orchestra concerto?

By the way, the same comments can be made of Sony Classic's CD of Hilary Hahn playing Mendelssohn's violin concerto. Also, why do you mix Beethoven and Bernstein or Mendelssohn and Shostakovich. Too each his own but the styles of these composers are very different. More power to those who like both but why don't you put Bernstein and Shostakovich on the same CD together and Beethoven and Mendelssohn on another. That would double my pleasure and save me some money.

So the CD is worth every penny you pay for it just to hear Hilary Hahn in the background.

Whenever the latest hot, new virtuoso assays a materpiece as complex and steeped in violinistic tradition as the Beethoven concerto, expectations are at once high and low. Naturally, technical mastery is expected, else why would a major orchestra and label risk their reputation to make yet another recording of one of the warhorses of the repertoire? But often, these young artists are thrust too soon into the limelight, and attempt the greatest works written for their instrument far before they are ready for such challenges.

In Hilary Hahn we have another thing entirely -- in technical mastery, she leaves nothing to be desired, but what is truly surprising about this masterful young violinist is the maturity of her interpretation and the depth of her musicianship. From her pure, sweet tone and perfect serenity in the opening through her flawless navigation of the treacherous straits of the Kreisler cadenzas, her fearless attacks and subtle phrasing show a maturity of interpretation and a mastery of the emotional range of both her instrument and the work that belies her tender years.

If she's this good now, what WILL she bring to this work when she revisits it in twenty years? I, for one, can't wait to find out.

This is my favorite account of the noble Beethoven violin concerto. After listening to the Kreisler, Menuhin, Schneiderhan, and Kremer versions--all classics in their own right--Hahn still has my heart and vote. Her playing is consistently well-executed, intellectually stimulating and sensually pleasurable. The Beethoven Concerto is like a hunk of Grecian marble--imposing, canonical, and I would even say sublime in the Kantian sense. How does an interpreter convey an sense of intimacy amongst its aloof height? Hahn has the magic formula: the first movement has reserve and fire, the slow movement has an aura of spirituality, and the third the right moment of courtliness and earthiness. A clear winner.

Beehoven's Violin Concerto in D has always been one of the world's best violin concertos. Nathan Milstein used to be my favorite with this concerto but Miss Hahn has made a remarkable mark of respectibility with this recording. Perfectly performed with the Baltimore Symphony. I have seen Miss Hahn perform in person twice now...once when she was only 17 and just recently when she now is 19. I stood in a long line to meet her and have her autograph my CD. Its very refreshing to see a young person of 19 with such grace and talent! A very warm person who will go far in this world. You can count me as one of her admirers and am looking forward to her next achievements on compact disk! One can't go wrong buying this disk!

Most music lovers who buy or seek this CD will do so for the Beethoven Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 and for good reason: Hilary Hahn offers a sensitive, intelligent and thoroughly informed performance as accompanied by David Zinman conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Surely everyone has a favorite performance of this standard repertoire work: whether or not that performance rests comfortably in memory from a live concert or is secure in the recorded catalogue is a mute point. But few could argue the beauty and skill with which Hilary Hahn caresses this work. It is a very fine performance.

But for this listener the reason for adding yet another Beethoven Violin Concerto to the library is the amazingly beautiful Leonard Bernstein 'Serenade (after Plato: Symposium), for violin, harp, percussion & strings'! Having never heard this work in performance this recording is an eye opener. Some of Bernstein's most fluid melodies lie within the disparate structure of this 'Serenade' - aptly titled so as to not restrict the form to concerto standards. Yes, there are sections of the work that are far better than other sections, but the piece as a whole is a graceful addition to the violin/orchestra repertoire. Bernstein's penchant for introducing jazz in the piece is evident, not to the extent of 'Age of Anxiety' perhaps, but insertions of riffs are present. But the real thrill of this work is in Bernstein's orchestration - something very unusual for him: instead of full orchestra he confines his writing to strings, harp, and percussion with great success.

Hilary Hahn plays the piece as though it were written for her, changing moods and styles with enormous facility. Zinman and the Baltimore ensemble provide terrific collaboration. While there are many choices for the Beethoven concerto on recorded CD, there are not for the Bernstein. It is well worth the investment! Grady Harp, August 06

I heard Hahn perform live not too long ago and found her to be somewhat obvious in her interpretation at times. This was a big disappointment, given all the hype that has surrounded her in the last few years, but at the time I attributed it to playing to a small audience in a hick town (my apologies to my fellow Athenians--but they know it's true). So I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to this recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto: not only is Hahn's performance technically flawless, but she brings a freshness of interpretation that is far from childish or obvious. From her first appearance in the Allegro ma non troppo, Hahn's clear tone and fearless attack take center stage. Her presence is somewhat muted in the Larghetto, but in the final Rondo/allegro she achieves a depth of expression that is quite simply sublime. Certain moments in her performance will quite literally take your breath away, because you will be listening so closely that you will be holding your breath to hear every nuance.

Add to this Richard King's excellent job of engineering and you have a recording that is at once bright and personal, focused and enveloping. This is not simply a recording of a masterpiece, it is also a masterpiece of recording, and the technical staff deserve special mention: the producer Thomas Frost, King as recording engineer, Andreas Meyer as assistant and editing engineer, and Mark Betts the technical supervisor, have produced an exceptional CD.

My only reservation about this recording is the choice of the "b-side", if you will. Bernstein's Serenade, while refreshing and satisfying in places (one thinks particularly of the opening of the Phaedrus section [my own favorite], or the Socrates section), just isn't a good companion piece for the Beethoven. I suppose one reason for including it is to show off Hahn's command of the various genres of the repertoire--and her playing remains convincing on the "b-side"--but I think that artistically it winds up hurting the album more than helping it. Unless one is in the right mood, one is probably going to switch off the CD player after the 3rd track more often than not.