HILARY HAHN, VIOLIN, VASILY PETRENKO, CONDUCTOR, ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA; Higdon and Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos (Deutsche Grammophon) ★★★
In Hilary Hahn's newest CD Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto gets top billing, but the real star is Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's venerable warhorse of a concerto.
Hahn, one of the world's truly great violinists, brings inner beauty, refined lyricism, exquisite expressiveness and impeccable technique to Tchaikovsky's ever popular work. Her playing is nuanced and she brings subtlety to every measure of music.
The tempo in the opening movement is fairly leisurely (as it, in fact, is in the other two movements); it's definitely slower than what one would expect. But this works to Hahn's advantage. It allows her to explore the intricacies of the score more fully and makes the bravura writing sound even more a part of the musical fabric. It is a very cohesive and well integrated performance.
The slow movement is exquisitely phrased, with beautifully shaped phrases that capture the romantic tenderness with sensitivity, and the finale is light and fluid with Hahn bringing out the capriciousness of the music with finely delineated and articulated playing.
And while her reading might not be everyone's ideal interpretation, she brings a fresh perspective to this well known piece that is welcome.
Higdon wrote her concerto for Hahn and it won for the composer this year's Pulitzer Prize in music. Higdon knows how to write appealing music, which isn't necessarily always a good thing. In Higdon's case, her music tends to sound trite and clichéd, and its appeal lies in the obvious. She doesn't break any new ground here. But she is a good orchestrator, and that helps her music. And Hahn has a winner here. She plays the three-movement work with conviction and craftsmanship.
There is some nice playing in both concertos by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under its chief conductor Vasily Petrenko, but the orchestra sounds a little insipid at times and not up to Hahn's high standards. She actually deserves to be paired with a better and more solid orchestra and conductor.
Even so, this CD is worth adding to one's collection for Hahn's stellar performance of the Tchaikovsky.
e-mail: ereichel@desnews.com