Eclipse

Hilary Hahn

Released on 10/7/22 by Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Main artists: Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra Andrés Orozco-Estrada Hilary Hahn
Genre: Classical

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For this new recording made immediately after the lockdown period, American violinist Hilary Hahn offers up a truly original programme—just how she likes it. One surprise is the inclusion of Alberto Ginastera’s (1916-1983) Violin Concerto, Op. 30. Despite being a major Argentine composer during the twentieth-century, Ginastera’s work has been sorely under-promoted. His flamboyant, personal masterpieces are written for orchestra, piano and even the stage (e.g. Bomarzo).

Ginastera intially stands out for his ‘sublimation’ of traditional South American heritage. In every corner of his writing, he incorporates Argentinean dance rhythms, with their very specific metres (tango, milonga, gato, etc.), and applies them to an inventive and uniquely personal orchestration. The Argentinean’s orchestra was an instant hit, and it has maintained its powerful sonic singularity ever since. In the early 1960s, Ginastera’s style would become more radical as he increasingly incorporated serialist elements. The Violin Concerto dates back to this period (1963), by which time his musical language had become more sophisticated. It is surprising to note that his major concertante works (the First Piano Concerto and First Cello Concerto) were written during the 1960s: a period of intense experimentation.

In its three free-form movements, the Violin Concerto remains a challenging work both for the soloist and the orchestra. It begins with a large cadenza for the soloist and follows with a series of six ‘studii’, which each focus upon particular facets of violin playing (chords, thirds, etc.)—as if Chopin or Paganini had released their material a century later but had fleshed them out with similarly rich and colourful orchestral textures. The second movement - an Adagio per 22 solisti, fairly typical of Ginastera’s writing for solo strings - brings about a lull within the overall structure, before we enter a two-part Scherzo. This final movement ends with a Perpetuum mobile: an extremely virtuosic moment, the agitated and hallucinating tone of which is aptly inhabited by Hilary Hahn. A brilliant moment on the record.

It is surprising then to hear Sarasate’s Fantasia-Carmen - a truly disturbing contrast, but one which brings us back to a more radiant 19th century. This period is equally celebrated through the incorporation of Antonín Dvořák's Violin Concerto, which is now being performed more and more often by 21st century violinists. In the Dvořák, Hahn and Orozco-Estrada are more sensitive to the work’s flowing form than to its pastoral or lyrical character.

An absolutely fascinating album, in any case. Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz

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Eclipse

Hilary Hahn

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Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53, B. 108 (Antonín Dvořák)

I. Allegro ma non troppo