Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47

Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47 | Sibelius, Schoenberg, ... | What a pair!

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Schoenberg Violin ...

	Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47 Sibelius, Schoenberg, ... DG, 2008 average customer review:based on 19 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In another original pairing violinist Hilary Hahn brings together the familiar, highly commercial and long-awaited recording of the famous Sibelius Violin Concerto with the rarely performed Violin Concerto by Arnold Schoenberg. 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). As both an acclaimed Sibelius interpreter and a known advocate of 20th-century music in concert halls worldwide, Esa-Pekka Salonen is the ideal musical partner in this project.

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Revelatory

The Schoenberg violin concerto is widely admired and widely studied, but it isn't much played, and it's never been much loved. This is partly because of the huge technical hurdles it presents fiddlers, but also because it isn't especially easy to bring off musically; in this regard it is unlike the piano concerto, say, which is far more accessible, and which offers up at least some of its beauties simply by being played accurately. I've heard most of the violin concerto performances previously committed to disc and never found them very pleasing; the soloist always seems to be eating his spinach like a good boy. As a consequence, I've always taken it to be one of Schoenberg's more rebarbative works, like the thoroughly unpleasant wind quintet. But Hillary Hahn has located the romantic soul of the piece --- she seems to see in it a kinship to a work like the Brahms concerto --- and delivers a performance that is not only technically thrilling but also very moving. It has fundamentally changed my opinion of this concerto; the score's mastery no longer feels predominantly theoretical, but rather, is characteristic of Schoenberg's masterpieces, big, generous-hearted, romantic.
The Sibelius performance is impeccable as well, but good performances of that very popular piece aren't so hard to come by. The Schoenberg is the reason to buy this CD.

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What a pair!

Schoenberg wrote two concerti after coming to the U.S., one for violin, the other for piano. The Piano Concerto has had a number of strong advocates over the years, including Glen Gould, Peter Serkin, and Mitsuko Uchida, and I own several recordings of that work that I treasure. I've always wanted to feel the same sense of connection to the Violin Concerto, but had never heard a recording that caught my imagination. Hilary Hahn's new recording with Esa-Pekka Salonen finally does this. Hahn plays the piece as though it were Brahms, and not a technical exercise. The music flows, and the hidden romanticism (which in Schoenberg often lies below an icy layer of irony) seeps through to the surface.
I had never been fond of the Sibelius concerto until I heard a performance of Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting it with Midori. Salonen played the work in a way that seemed not to try to hide the structural quirks of the first movement, but instead emphasized them. Suddenly the work belonged in the 20th century, not the 19th! While Ms. Hahn lacks Midori's intensity in the solo, this performance has the structural aspects I found so compelling in Salonen's treatment of the orchestra from that performance. All told, these two seemingly incompatible conertos make a fascinating pair, and the performers achieve something really astonishing with both works. Brava and Bravo!

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One that grows on you

Schoenberg is an acquired taste. As hard as it is to go from sugary to bitterly dietary food, it is to allow your verbal musical pallette to embrace such harshness and brusqueness into that comfort zone.

I know that when I was young, almost all of these composers from the 20th century sounded weird compared to Bach and Beethoven--Everybody from Stravinsky to Copland gave me some sense of change and development along the classical music timeline, but even Ravel's and Bartok's music had such rich and lush melody to swim through. Schoenberg (Lord knows I've come up with way too many metaphors by now; In the scheme of tests, it's like the Roraschach; In the scheme of games, it's like 'Where's Waldo?', etc.) is still a bit rough around the edges, forcing you to either fight or flight. I have to say, though, I really like it more than I did when this CD came out.

I think I expected Hilary's recording to be huge given that it had gotten 5-star reviews before it was even released in the US, but when I played it the first time, it left me with a cold feeling, and after only 2 listens, I actually felt the need to tell Hilary Hahn after the Met concert earlier this year that I was disappointed with the piece (not her performance), then I felt bad about that later because this was the night of the CD launch party. She'd been doing a lot of performing and travelling that week--This might not have been the best time to say that, so please forgive me, Hilary! :)

Having said this, I'd been listening to other music of Schoenberg's with a decidedly unbiased ear (The Piano pieces, the Piano Concerto, Verklarte Nacht, earlier solo violin pieces, Zvi Zeitlin's recording of the VC from 1972, etc.) and it's been very helpful. It's much more enriching for me getting to know Schoenberg's style and flow--It just takes a different set of ears for you (Depending on what your ears are like to begin with) to prep for this man's music.

Now that I've managed to do that, I can fully embrace this recording, and say it's a classic.
In addition to this, I'm very happy that A) we're seeing history being made as Hilary manages to popularize a piece that really hadn't been given much of a chance during Schoenberg's day (Historic also for the fact that Hilary's was the first Schoenberg recording to debut or chart at number 1 on a Billboard chart), and B) we're hearing the performance of a lifetime from this world-class soloist!

Plus, another thing I think I should add that I didn't think to mention in the first few drafts is that FRAME OF MIND accounts for almost everything. I might have been in a blue state (No, not a Electorally Democratic one, I mean a sad one) when I listened to the concerto those first few times, and Schoenberg doesn't exactly work for that! :) Hilary Hahn is a truly fantastic musician, and I've been a huge fan of hers for several years, so you would think that she'd get at least some biased kudos from me in the first place--Didn't happen this time! But I consider that a good thing since you want to judge things fairly.

BTW, I think the gorgeous Sibelius Concerto makes a really cool reward for getting through the Schoenberg! ;)

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Lyrical Schoenberg, Lost Sibelius

This recording pairs two concerti that, despite the obvious differences in tonal language, have much in common: both are large-scale, impassioned and, at times, achingly lyrical works that require technical mastery and musical maturity from both soloist and orchestra.
As far as the Schoenberg goes, Hahn and Salonen meet these challenges unabashedly; it is the most well-controlled yet lyrical recording of this sadly underplayed masterpiece I know. Schoenberg's musical language--so difficult for so many listeners--is brought to life with remarkable clarity and, more importantly, treated with a lovely musicality that sings out the Romantic beauty of the work.
However, while Schoenberg's lyricism generally reveals itself in shorter bursts, Sibelius's is positively epic; and that's where this recording falls short. Despite admirable playing, neither Hahn nor Salonen seem to be able to stay on course in the Laplandian hugeness of this piece and often end up sounding somewhat lost in the expanse. (For a masterful and simply gorgeous performance of this work, I'd recommend Mutter/Previn on DG.)
Nonetheless, one could do far worse as far as the Sibelius goes; and, in any case, the Schoenberg itself is worth the price of the disc.

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