Hilary’s Concerto Collection.
Fortunately for us as listeners, the field of excellent living violinists is filled with many great artists. I am sure that I will miss naming some; however, my favorites are Anne – Sophie Mutter, Janine Jansen, James Ehnes, Joshua Bell, Frank Peter Zimmermann, and Hilary Hahn.
This recorded collection of the great violin concerti features the great Hilary Hahn, and her performances are terrific.
This collection includes the concerti by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Brahms, Samuel Barber, Dmitry Shostakovich, and Igor Stravinsky.
CD #1:
Concerto for Violin in E minor, Op. 64 by Felix Mendelssohn
Marek Janowski conducting the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Concerto for Violin in D major, Op. 61 by Ludwig van Beethoven
David Zinman conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
CD #2:
Concerto for Violin in D major, Op. 77 by Johannes Brahms
Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Concerto for Violin in D major by Igor Stravinsky
Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
CD #3:
Concerto for Violin no 1 in A minor, Op. 77 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Hugh Wolff conducting the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Concerto for Violin, Op. 14 by Samuel Barber
Hugh Wolff conducting the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
In this large field of outstanding performers, Hilary Hahn is surely among the finest violinist today. Her tone is amazingly warm, her interpretations are serious, as well as varied in their color and expression. Her technique is crisp, subtle, and distinct. She is clearly a wonderful musician.
Here is Ms. Hahn in one of the concertos that are not part of this collection, namely the Tchaikovsky:
And next, here she is in the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No 1 in D major, Op 19, also not included:
http://youtu.be/BJTR7wYEx3c
I will end with a historic video of Ms. Hahn, age 15, as she plays the Beethoven concerto with Lorin Maazel conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra:
Tags: Hilary Hahn, Beethoven, Brahms, Stravinsky, Barber, Shostakovich, Mendelssohn