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.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Hahn and the Great Unwashed Masses:
Hilary Hahn Is one of the meanest musician I've met. I haven't been able to listen to this (superlative) album since meeting her last season after she performed the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Detroit Symphony.
Five Stars -- No Doubt About It:
Some CD's get 5 stars that don't deserve it. This is NOT one of those. It's definitely one to cherish.
Great Sibelius but the Schoenberg is the showstopper:
It'd be tempting to say the classical music recording industry is in great shape when the Schoenberg on this disc is the primary work and the Sibelius is the "flip-side." But a look at much of the rest of the industry shows that this is an anomaly...still, we'll take what we can get. This wonderful CD starts off with a delightfully *lyrical,* yes, lyrical, reading of the Schoenberg concerto. If this performance doesn't make you fall in love with it, nothing will. It's not at the caliber of the Berg VC (what... more info
Clarity Over Passion:
Hilary Hahn's Schoenberg and Sibelius A courageous Hilary Hahn and Esa-Pekka Solonen really crack this hard nut, the Schoenberg Violin Concerto, making it listenable music rather than what seems to be a collection of difficult 20th Century gestures, as it's often apt to sound. Their performance is better than the one by Amoyal and Boulez (Erato/Ultima), but perhaps not quite as good as the out of print classic account of Israel Baker and Robert Craft (Columbia LP). This last is more humorous than... more info
