The Week in Reviews, Op. 150: Hilary Hahn, Lisa Batiashvili, Simone Lamsma
In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world.
Hilary Hahn performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony.
- Cincinnati Enquirer (warning: review is behind an ad wall): "Violinist Hilary Hahn so moved her audience at the Taft Theatre Saturday night with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra that she performed two encores instead of one....Hahn’s bright, clear as a bell sound – she plays a violin by Jean Baptiste Vuillame once played by Paganini – filled the hall with well-defined and distinct beauty, plus fine dynamic control. Her legato bowing was seamless and, aided by Langrée’s sympathetic conducting, she could descend into the softest passages and still be heard." (Note: Hahn's Vuillaume violin is a replica of Paganini's 1864 "Cannone" Guarneri del Gesù)
Hilary Hahn. Photo by Michael Patrick O'Leary.
Lisa Batiashvili performed the Tchaikovsky with the New York Philharmonic.
- New York Classical Review: "The violinist’s tone was clear and vibrant, especially in folk-dance tunes down on the G string, and she took extra time in all the right places, but her accomplished playing didn’t convey much of the tender sentiment and intimacy of this fundamentally lyrical piece."
Simone Lamsma performed the Brahms with the Dallas Symphony.
- Theater Jones: "Lamsma seems to have well-defined ideas about phrasing and rubato, creating a pleasing sense of musical unity. Her technique is rock-solid, as well—she handled the considerable difficulties of the Brahms concerto with ease. She does not have a huge sound, however, and her vibrato was a bit frantic."
- The Dallas Morning News: "A tone more granular than usual these days struck my ears right away, and some arpeggio figurations were dispatched as mere notes, not notes than went anywhere or meant anything. I never did get used to a rapid-fire vibrato applied too automatically; when vibrato is right, you don't notice it. She soon displayed a lovely way with high-flown lines and delicate pianissimos, though, and she dispatched the finale with dazzling clarity."
Nicola Benedetti performed two Szymanowski violin concertos with the London Philharmonic.
- The Arts Desk: "She applies a rich but varied vibrato to much of the music, sometimes wide and fast, but just as often narrow and slow. The result is a tone and expression as varied as that of the orchestra beneath. She also has the sheer aural presence required to command those expansive orchestral textures, and Jurowksi, while always sympathetic, never felt the need to constrain the ensemble for her."
Ryu Goto performed the Tchaikovsky with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Philippine Daily Inquirer: "In Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto,” the PPO forged a debonair collaboration with the featured Japanese violinist, Ryu Goto, whose dashing youthful looks ensured a magnetic presence on stage. Goto played the concerto with an impressive dispatch even though the concerto was considered unplayable a long time ago."
Andrej Kurti performed the Tchaikovsky with the Waco Symphony Orchestra.
- Waco Tribune-Herald: "His fluid play sometimes lacked clarity, with notes sliding and slurring into each other, but his rapid fingering and bowing mastered the work’s more challenging passages. The highest notes of his violin’s register — a violin crafted by Hewitt luthier Tim Johnson, incidentally — seemed to float effortlessly into the hall."
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September 30, 2016 at 09:11 PM · Responding to reviews above of several younger violiniists, some better known with a few never before heard, I can attest to the unquestionable artistry of Hilary Hahn, and say sans hesitation, her performances are sure to be masterful both technically and musically speaking ... Ms. Hahn has an unshakable inner core thought process, intellectual control and exceptionally solid at-the-violin work ethic which consistently produces her iron rock violinistic technique which, graciously, never overshadow's the beauty of whatever musical themes/lines she presents. (Being so blessed to have had Master's, Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein, as my violin mentor's -- and for goodly amounts of time --) Ms. Hahn's playing seems to continue growing and expanding in musical panoramic scope as each concert season evolves and passes.
Her ascent into very rare and elite circle's of Grand Master's of Violin Art is no longer a surprise to first time listener's of Hilary Hahn ~ Indeed! Audiences have come to 'expect' the consistent artistic level of Hilary Hahn performances ~ Live or in recording . As a very 'spoiled' listener and player, I am yet to be disappointed by a Hilary Hahn performance! I believe Ms. Hahn's inward/ & outward relationship to the instrument is totally fidel, as were those of Mr. Heifetz, Mistein, D. Oistrakh, Fritz Kreisler and Henryk Szeryng, which puts 'our own' American born still young Violinist in the 'Top Drawer of Violinists of All Time" ~ Being a Pro Violinist yet 'hobby' writer of fellow Violinist's, the latter statement might be viewed by some as "going over the top", journalistically, but knowing, first hand, all elements required to be in such musically 'Royal' violinistic company, Ms. Hilary Hahn has arrived and joined those very rarified 'Royal ranks' ... Wishing Ms. Hahn decades of more great music making on the concert stages of the world, as a violinist having been privileged to tour and record many of the great masterworks from our extensive violin repertoire, she has earned my qualified Vote! As is said in England, "May God Bless the Queen", in this case, may the British sentiment apply to Ms. Hilary Hahn who now wears The Crown of several younger generations of Violinists ~
Elisabeth Matesky / Chicago *
*www.linkedin.com