Carnegie Hall, New York: November 26, 2002
Hilary Hahn’s progress from wunderkind to greatness reached another milestone Tuesday evening at her Carnegie Hall recital debut. Coming on the eve of her 23rd birthday, she presented a gift to New Yorkers in the form of a challenging program played with extraordinary sensitivity and insight. Ernest Bloch’s First Sonata is not a work one expects to open a recital by a major violinist, let alone a young virtuoso. It’s a knotty, large-scale work dating from 1920, full of ideas that quickly dart through complex developments. But it immediately grabs attention with a driving opening that’s swiftly replaced by a second main theme of hushed loveliness that elicited from Hahn playing of ethereal beauty. The second movement, marked Molto quieto, was done with exquisite raptness; its pianissimo pizzicatos and long melodies played with quiet intensity to haunting effect. The final Moderato, with its changing moods and expressive themes was done to perfection.
Hahn’s brilliant performance was shared by pianist Natalie Zhu, whose full-bodied pianism in the Bloch and in the other concerted works represented true partnership. In the Bloch, the piano has a virtually equal role, supporting and contrasting with the violin’s arguments, and Zhu’s excellence helped lift the performance beyond the status of mere violin showpiece. This fascinating work is rarely heard, and these performers deserve thanks not only for programming it but for convincing listeners that it’s a neglected masterpiece.
Their advocacy was as effective in the Schubert Duo Sonata that ended the first half of the concert and in the Debussy Sonata that closed the program. The Schubert was solidly set in a classical framework. The overt passion others have found in it was here muted, though effectively expressed in Hahn’s luscious tone and purity of phrasing. Understated slightly, but never underplayed, it made a ravishing effect. So did the Debussy, which the duo played with tensile strength; Hahn demonstrating amazing legato bowing that made the difficult seem easy.
The major work, opening the second half of the concert, was Bach’s Partita No. 3 for Solo Violin. Hearing Hahn play a Bach solo violin movement as an encore after her stunning Shostakovitch Concerto last season, I’ve lusted after a complete Bach work played by this artist, and it did not disappoint. The opening Preludio was spirited, the Loure poignant, the Gavotte phrased with individuality and buoyancy, and the closing Gigue done with rhythmic power. Where Hahn’s tone was tailored to blend with the piano in true chamber performances of the other works, here it rang out with more body and size, a silky smooth blend of dashing virtuosity and serious intensity. Every seat was taken for this concert; virtually all remained occupied for her poetic encores. This young artist can’t come back to Carnegie Hall soon enough.
Dan Davis
