Hilary Hahn - Barber & Meyer: Violin Concertos
These two American violin concertos, written 60 years apart, were both commissioned for a young virtuoso but are basically songful and lyrical; indeed, though the Barber is now a staple of the repertoire, its beautiful first two movements were originally rejected as not effective enough, the brilliantly motoric Finale as too difficult. Meyer's was written in 1999 for Hilary Hahn, who premiered it last summer, and for whom nothing is too difficult. She seems equally at home in all the various styles Meyer combines with his usual inventiveness, making the lovely folksong-like melody, which opens the piece and reappears later, sing and soar, then turning into a bluegrass fiddler, swinging along and trading riffs with the orchestra, using drones to produce astonishing double stops, holding the listener's interest even when the music gets repetitious and static. She is a superb violinist, brilliant but not showy; her tone is strikingly beautiful, warm, pure, focused--and she can vary and intensify it with bow and vibrato. Her concentrated expressiveness never flags; she changes moods on a dime. The Barber has controlled passion and ecstasy, and a pensive, contemplative inwardness remarkable in a 19-year-old.--Edith Eisler