Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Schoenberg: Violin Concerto
Hilary Hahn
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Hilary Hahn interprets Arnold Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto, recognized as one of the most complex and technically challenging concertos of the whole violin repertoire
Although the Schoenberg is rarely given in concert or on recordings, Hahn has made herself a strong advocate of the neglected piece, playing it in concert around the globe to high critical acclaim: “Hahn didn’t merely play the notes, she passionately engaged with them.” (The Daily Telegraph, on a live performance of the Schoenberg Violin Concerto)
In yet another unique coupling of hers, Hahn pairs the Schoenberg together with her long-awaited first recording of the famous Sibelius Violin Concerto, one of the most beloved romantic concertos
Hahn brings out the romantic qualities of Schoenberg’s Concerto – known as one of the most difficult pieces in the violin repertoire – showing why it makes an ideal coupling with the Sibelius - “Hahn didn’t merely play the notes, she passionately engaged with them.” (The Daily Telegraph, on a live performance of the Schoenberg Violin Concerto)
In Esa-Pekka Salonen Hahn has the ideal musical partner for this project. Both an acclaimed Sibelius interpreter and a known advocate of 20th-century music, Salonen leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra to the core of the two challenging orchestral scores
This coupling sheds new light on both concertos and brings out the romantic qualities of Schoenberg’s Concerto more then ever before
Track List
Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951)
Violin Concerto, Op.36
1. Poco Allegro [11:36]
2. Andante grazioso [7:30]
3. Finale. Allegro [10:38]
Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957)
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47
1. Allegro moderato [17:20]
2. Adagio di molto [8:36]
3. Allegro, ma non tanto [7:16]
Hilary Hahn
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Recordings: Stockholm, Swedish Radio, Berwaldhallen, 3/2007 (Sibelius) & 9/2007 (Schoenberg)
Executive Producer: Christian Leins
Producer: Arend Prohmann (Sibelius), Sid McLauchlan (Schoenberg)
Recording Engineer (Tonmeister): Stephan Flock
Assistant Engineer: Hans-Ulrich Bastin (Sibelius), Jürgen Bulgrin (Schoenberg)
Project Coordinator: Burkhard Bartsch
Hilary Hahn
Hilary Hahn was born in Lexington, Virginia, USA, and moved to Baltimore in 1983, where she had her first violin lessons in a local children’s program. In 1985, she began five years of study in Baltimore with Klara Berkovich, a native of Odessa who had taught at the Leningrad School for the Musically Gifted for 25 years before emigrating to Baltimore. In 1990, she gave her first full recital, at Leakin Hall in Baltimore, and entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia to study with 83-year-old Jascha Brodsky, the last surviving student of Eugène Ysaye. This year she also made her first radio appearance.
Alongside her solo work, Hilary Hahn has a deep interest in chamber music. Nearly every summer since 1992 she has appeared at the Skaneateles Chamber Music Festival, both as a chamber musician and as a soloist with the festival orchestra. In other projects, she can be heard as featured soloist on the soundtrack of M. Night Shyamalan’s 2004 film The Village and as a guest artist on the track “To Russia My Homeland” from the 2005 album Worlds Apart by Austin alt-rockers . . . And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead.
Hilary Hahn plays on a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin from 1864.
1991 Major orchestra debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in December.
1992 Begins full-time undergraduate studies at Curtis in music, liberal arts and foreign languages.
1993 European orchestral debut in Hungary with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. European chamber-music debut in France at the Festival of Sully-sur-Loire, with future recital partner Natalie Zhu.
1994 Debuts with leading American orchestras, including the Cleveland, New York Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony.
1995 Spends the first summer (of four) studying and performing chamber music at the Marlboro Music Festival in the USA.
1996 First recording featuring solo Sonatas and Partitas by J. S. Bach is released. Carnegie Hall debut. Performs in Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York. Completes bachelor's degree requirements at the Curtis Institute.
1998 Recording of Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Bernstein's Serenade with the Baltimore Symphony under David Zinman is nominated for a Grammy Award, crowned with a Diapason d'or and, a few months later, an Echo Klassik Award.
1999 Graduates from the Curtis Institute of Music with a bachelor's degree. Orchestral debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony. Performs and records the violin concerto written for and dedicated to her by Edgar Meyer.
1999/2000 recording of concertos by Barber and Meyer wins the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis and the Cannes Classical Award. Makes BBC Proms debut as featured soloist at the "Last Night" in London's Royal Albert Hall. Tours Japan with the Berliner Philharmoniker.
2002 Signs an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and makes her first recording under this agreement, four concertos by J. S. Bach with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jeffrey Kahane. Recording of concertos by Brahms and Stravinsky with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields wins the Monde de la musique's Choc Award; a Grammy follows in 2003; recording of works by Mendelssohn and Shostakovich released.
2003 Deutsche Grammophon Album of Bach concertos is released to wide critical acclaim in the autumn.
2004 Release of her second album for Deutsche Grammophon, featuring Elgar’s Violin Concerto and Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending with Sir Colin Davis conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2004). Concert appearances include the New York, Rotterdam and Hong Kong Philharmonics and the Cincinnati, Toronto, Bournemouth, NDR (Hamburg), WDR (Cologne) and New Zealand Symphony orchestras. Extensive US and European recital tours with pianist Natalie Zhu and their recording of Mozart Violin Sonatas
2005 Recital tours with Natalie Zhu of the US, throughout Europe, and to the Far East; European tour with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano “Giuseppe Verdi” under Eiji Oue plus concert appearances including the Philadelphia and St. Paul Chamber orchestras, the Gothenburg, Atlanta, Baltimore, New Jersey, Swedish Radio, Singapore, and NHK (Tokyo) Symphony orchestras, and the Russian National and Osaka Philharmonic orchestras. Her CD release of Mozart Violin Sonatas with Natalie Zhu opens at no. 7 on the classical Billboard charts and also makes the German pop charts
2006 Concerts with the Los Angeles (in the Hollywood Bowl), Czech and Luxembourg Philharmonic orchestras; the Cologne, Frankfurt, and Swedish Radio Symphony orchestras; the Philadelphia, Colorado, Barcelona, BBC, Berne, Cincinnati, Houston, San Francisco and Montreal Symphony orchestras; the ¬National Arts Center (Ottawa) and Zurich Tonhalle orchestras; and on a German tour with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra. Festival appearances including Aspen, Barbican (Mostly Mozart), Carinthian Summer, Ludwigsburg, Montpellier, Rheingau, Verbier, La Roque d’Anthéron and Tanglewood. Recitals in Macao, Japan and Korea (with Hyo-Sun Lim). Her CD release of Violin Concertos by Paganini (no. 1) and Spohr (no. 8) with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Eiji Oue is scheduled for an autumn release.
