Butterfly

The new Hilary Hahn CD is out and getting lots of buzz around here at the Dead Cat offices. Ok, it's more "tiny room with desk and chair" than "offices", and the "buzz" is really just me and my unqualified opinions, but still it's always exciting when HH's fall release hits the stores. Here are a few first impressions.

Before I begin I should probably say that I never really liked the Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1. I certainly don't hate it, but it's always seemed like just a "show" piece to me, and a "show" piece is a bit like a juggler keeping 7 knives in the air at the same time -- it's exciting the first time you see it, and then it starts to feel stale.

I've heard this concerto a few times before and even have the Perlman Edition loaded on my MP3 player, but it never made much of an impression on me. I don't know why. It's certainly dazzling, and that's what you want from Paganini isn't it? After all, when you go to the park on the Fourth of July it's because you want to see the fireworks, isn't it? Of course it is, and when you 're jonesing for some bow-blasting, finger-bending, scroll-shivering pyrotechnics and razzledazzle, then you put on the Paganini. I understand that. He's just not one of my favorites, that's all.

On the other hand, HH is one of my favorites.

The place to begin with this CD is the booklet. For those of you who bought this on Itunes, well, tough luck. If you're going to buy classical music then you really should be buying CD's anyways, not only for the improved audio quality but also for the printed materials contained therein. Be that as it may, in the booklet HH talks about the Violin as Voice, and about the operatic qualities of both the Paganini and Spohr concerti. Ok, I thought, I've listened to the Perlman version and heard nothing operatic at all in the piece, but she's obviously spent a great deal of time thinking about this, so I'll go with it.

Then I gave it a listen.

If you're unfamiliar with the Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 let me explain a little about it. It opens with a rather long introduction full of cymbal crashes and orchestral bluster. After all the noise stops, it settles down to quiet hush and waits for the star violinist to make his/her grand entrance and captivate the audience with his/her virtuosity and brilliance. Then, for the next 35 minutes or so it's just one big thrill ride as the soloist performs one challenging feat after another, each seemingly more impossible than the last, until finally dropping dead on stage with hands and fingers a broken, bleeding, mangled mess (it is considered good form on the audience's part to withhold their applause until after the paramedics leave.)

On this CD, however, you have to forget all that. HH wrote that she saw the piece as operatic, and, you know something, as much as I like to be disagreeable and critical, I totally bought into it. She's right. This isn't a violin concerto, it's bel canto, and from the moment HH makes her entrance she is completely in the scene, displaying a glorious singing voice and superb diction--razor sharp, in fact. After listening to so many lesser violinists over the past year, I can't tell you how good it is to hear that clarity and precision again; a precision she carries through the entire piece with nary a stumble or a wobble.

Yes, she's right. This concerto is opera, or can be if approached the right way. I'd been listening to the Perlman CD, and I'd say his approach is more as a figure skater than opera singer. First you do your triple toe loop, and then you sort of glide around to catch your breath before moving on to the double Lutz. It's all "one trick to the next" and just doesn't have flow of HH's recording.

The Perlman CD also doesn't have her playing, and that's probably the most important difference of all. What's immediately obvious to anyone who has followed HH's career is that this is not the work of a prodigy. This is the work of a mature and talented artist at the top of her game, and has to make people wonder whether she just might be emerging as the preeminent musician of our time. I know that sounds like hyperbole but I honestly can't think of any other violinist out there right now who communicates such a total control of the instrument as HH does. Sure, audiences all have their favorites, but just listen to her interpretation of this piece. It's unique, confident, intelligent, insightful, artistic, expressive, and yes, dazzling as well. It's all there. Everything you look for in a great musician; it's all there.

Anyways, there's also a Spohr concerto on the CD and it's not nearly as impressive as the Paganini, at least not after 4 or 5 listens. It's kind of unfair, really. After hearing her play the first piece you almost have a feeling like there are no more mountains high enough for HH to climb, and then comes the Spohr, which isn't bad, but doesn't seem to have the aspirations of the Paganini. I'm sure I'll be listening to this CD for some time to come, so maybe I'll have something to say about the Spohr then.

(like anyone cares)