Bach: Violin Concertos

CD

Hilary Hahn is certainly one of the best young violinists before the public. Now 23 years old, she has abundantly fulfilled her early promise as a radiantly talented as well as singularly earnest prodigy, and grown into a brilliant violinist and a communicative, arresting performer. On this recording, which features Bach's Violin Concertos in A minor, BWV 1041 and E major, BWV 1042, as well as the Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043 and the Concerto for violin and oboe in C minor, BWV 1060, her flawless technique and strikingly beautiful, intensely focussed tone are on full display. There is a noble, restrained quality in her playing, so that although her tone-production and vibrato are "modern," her sound has a classical, pristine purity. (By contrast, the orchestral sound, though good, is surprisingly lush - a rather odd discrepancy.) Hahn's interplay with her two excellent partners is close and unanimous in tone and style; the less familiar Concerto for violin and oboe is especially compelling. Unfortunately, Hilary Hahn, despite her serious, thoughtful approach to music, seems to have succumbed to the current trend among today's performers--perhaps symptomatic of the jet-age--to play as fast as their fingers will carry them. The fast movements are taken at such speeds that they lose all their elegance, grace and charm, become prone to false accents, and sound aggressive, hectic and breathless. A performer with less musical integrity might be suspected of just wanting to show off her effortless facility. However, Hahn's musicality, expressiveness and affinity for Bach (she has also recorded the unaccompanied solo violin works on Sony) come through in the slow movements, where the playing is calm, expansive enough for carefully shaped phrases, emotionally concentrated, and simply beautiful. --Edith Eisler