Another review, another opinion

After reading Robert Battey's some what negative review of Hilary Hahn's recital I decided to see if there was a review of the recital in San Francisco.  I found a review written by Joshua Kosman that was published in the San Francisco Chronicle.  Mr. Kosman's review had a completely different tone.  First off he praised Ms. Hahn's programming choices calling them "imaginative."  He even claimed that this recital was the "highlight of the still young year."

Similar to Mr. Battey's review the Antheil and Ives Sonatas was a primary subject.  Unlike that review Mr. Kosman enjoyed these pieces.  He called the Antheil Sonata "a fascinating example of the anxiety of influence."  The first movement is indebted to Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat.  In other movements Antheil moves into his "own inventive world, one marked by percussive rhythms quite different from the Stravinsky."

Mr. Kosman complements Ms. Hahn's versatility.  He called the performance of the Beethoven "Spring" Sonata graceful, yet sinewy.  He goes on to comment how Ms. Hahn embraces the virtuoso nature of the violin with Kreisler's Variations on a Theme by Corelli.  She played the piece with a "fearless exhibition."

Overall, it appears as is Mr. Kosman enjoyed the recital.  He did not consider the contemporary pieces as irritants.  Instead he embraces the diversity of the programming choices rather than rejecting them outright.  These two reviews provide examples as to why you cannot just listen to one critic or reviewer to formulate an opinion.  It is important to either experience the music or event or if you cannot be there consider multiple sources.

A Jaded Concert Review

It is disappointing when a concert or album reviewer/critic goes into a concert or a listening of a new album expecting things to be a particular way.  When things do not go as expected the reviewer obsesses on what he or she did not like and they end up picking apart the performance.  This is what I found when the other day I read a concert review of Hilary Hahn's recital at Strathmore Hall in North Bethesda, Maryland.  The review was written by Robert Battey and published in The Washington Post.  Upon reading the review it became clear that Mr. Battey is conservative and traditional in his musical tastes.  The headline says it all: Virtuoso violinist Hilary Hahn holds her audience rapt but adds some irritants.

It seems that Mr. Battey's review is all about building up only to tear down.  He talks about being in the presence of a rare instrumental talent only to turn around and say that Ms. Hahn "exudes little star power or charisma onstage."  I do not know about you, but when I go to a classical music concert I am more concerned with great technique and playing in tune than star power.  I have seen performers with great stage presence give mediocre performances.  That is not what I want, but apparently that is what Mr. Battey wants.

The biggest "irritant" to me in this review is his critique of the program.  He called it a program that "uncomfortably juxtaposed old standards with second-tier Americans.  Charles Ives and George Antheil are the two Americans on the program.  Does Mr. Battey infer that all American composer are second-tier or lower?  I wonder because I do not consider Charles Ives as second-tier.

It is obvious that Mr. Battey had hoped for a "more traditional" recital.  He spent about one-third of the review ranting about the Ives and Antheil pieces.  He even attacks the performance of the Beethoven saying that the duo's "accents were wan and Hahn's staccatos were sticky rather than spiky" and claiming that the range of expression was narrow in the slow movement.

In the end, Mr. Battey did give high marks to Ms. Hahn's encore of the Bach B minor Partita.  He called it "simply jaw-dropping in perfection."  Yet he could not leave it there.  True to his build up and tear down form he goes on to claim that a few of the tempos seemed slow and she was inconsistent with the repeats making the piece's structure incoherent.  Though I wonder incoherent to who?  Unless you know the piece backwards and forward, you probably would not even notice the "incoherent nature" of the structure.

All of this really makes me wonder what reviewers like Robert Battey want.

Listening Journal: February 28-March 6, 2011

Witold Lutoslawski - Orchestral Works, volume 5 - CD
   Concerto for Orchestra (1954)
   Three Poems by Henri Michaux (1964)
   Mi-Parti for String Orchestra (1976)
   Overture for Strings (1949)

Hilary Hahn - Higdon and Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos - CD
  Hilary Hahn, violin, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko, conductor
   Jennifer Higdon - Violin Concerto (2008)
   Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35 (1878)

Kaija Saariaho - Orion (2002) for orchestra
Edgard Varèse - Integrales (1925) for 15 instrumentalists
Johann Sebastian Bach - Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005 (1720) for violin, Hilary Hahn, violin
Arvo Pärt - Für Alina (1976) for piano
Arvo Pärt - Variations zur gesundung von Annushka (1977) for piano
Luciano Berio - Sequenza X (1984) for trumpet in C and piano resonance



Click image to order CD from Amazon.com

To order mp3 from Amazon.com click here: Higdon / Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos [+Digital Booklet]

Worth the wait

On Monday I was finally able to listen to a CD that I have been waiting to listen to since September: Hilary Hahn's new recording of the Jennifer Higdon and Peter Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos.  I have always been luke-warm to Jennifer Higdon's music.  Some is good, some is alright.  I have not heard a piece of hers that blew me away.  I do like her Concerto for Orchestra and Rapid Fire for flute, but I do not really remember much of her other music, though I know I have heard some.

This concerto, written specifically for Hilary Hahn, has given me a new appreciation for Jennifer Higdon's music.  I will be making an effort to listen to her music a bit more.

The Tchaikovsky Concerto is a beautiful and brilliant piece that has a much maligned history.  This piece is always worth the price of admission.

All in all I am happy that I finally was able to purchase and listen to this CD.  While I wish I did not have to, this album is definitely worth the wait.

The new face of the CD store

It used to be that you could walk into any Borders, Barnes and Noble or any store that sells music CDs and be able to choose from a decent selection of classical music.  Of course it would be hard to find many of the contemporary composers, but the important ones would have some representation.  Currently, my local Borders only has a smattering of CDs in general and most are the newest releases by rock, pop or country artists.  Those stores that still have a music section will have a small selection of classical music.  Most are either popular recordings that everyone has like Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or Bach's Well Tempered Clavier.  If there are contemporary CDs you are likely to only find Stravinsky's Rite of Spring or Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time.  Do not get me wrong these are great pieces, but I have these recordings.  I am looking for something new.

It seems that the only way in which I can get the CDs I want is to order them online.  The internet is a great and powerful tool.  I love it because I can usually find recordings I want.  At the same time this is exactly the problem.  I can get what I want.  It is a lot harder to randomly find new things to listen to at an online store.  Sure most sites will give additional recommendations or will have a section that lists "other items purchased by customers who bought this CD," but these recommendations only go so far.  I love going into a "brick and mortar" store and just browsing through the racks.  It is a lot like treasure hunting.  I would often pick up a CD I was not looking for because it interests me.  I do not do this as often when ordering online because I can not see the entire selection.

So why am I going off on this tangent?  Well for the past two months I have been trying to locate, at a store, a particular recording that I figured would have been easy to find.  The CD is Hilary Hahn's latest recording featuring the Jennifer Higdon and Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos.  Hilary is a popular violinist and I can find most of her other recordings in town, but apparently not this one.  I will end up ordering this recording in the next day or two, but I would have liked to have gone somewhere to pick it up.

New Release: Hilary Hahn - Higdon and Tchaiskovsky Violin Concertos

On Tuesday, September 21, 2010 Deutsche Grammophon will release violinist Hilary Hahn's latest CD.  This recording will feature violin concertos composed by Jennifer Higdon and Peter Tchaikovsky.  Hilary will be backed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko, conductor.

As many of my friends know, Hilary is my favorite violinist.  Simply put she is brilliant.  She brings a new level of lyricism to whatever piece she plays.  On one of her previous CDs she recorded Arnold Schoenberg's Violin Concerto.  The performance was nothing short of phenomenal.  She brought out nuance and subtlety that breathed new life into the atonal work.

I look forward to hearing Jennifer Higdon's Concerto which was commissioned by the Indianapolis, Toronto and Baltimore symphonies and the Curtis Institute of Music for Hilary Hahn.  Higdon and I are alumni of the same university, though we do not know each other, Bowling Green State University.  Higdon graduated with her master's degree from there long before I was a student.

This release is New Music Forum's Pick of the Month for September 2010.  For more information visit: www.newmusicforum.com.

To order the CD please click the picture below