Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Violin Sonatas Nos. 18, 21, 24 & 35 (Hilary Hahn; Natalie Zhu)

Information

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• (01-03) Violin Sonata No. 24 in F major, K. 376:
• (04-05) Violin Sonata No. 18 in G major, K. 301
• (06-07) Violin Sonata No. 21 in E minor, K. 304
• (08-10) Violin Sonata No. 35 in A major, K. 526

Hilary Hahn, violin
Natalie Zhu, piano

Date: 2005
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
http://deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4775572

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Review

Arthur Grumiaux's elegant and mellifluous readings of Mozart's violin sonatas set one kind of standard for these elegant and mellifluous works. Hilary Hahn, who has come to terms so brilliantly with such diverse repertoire at such an early age proves that, still in her musical youth, she can challenge sterling interpretations of Mozart as well. Her performances with Natalie Zhu reveal a mastery of the bold gesture (as in the first movement of the Sonata, K 376) and the flowing line (as in the slow movement of the Sonata, K 301). The interpretive forest doesn't obscure the trees: nuances abound in the simplest phrases (and occasionally even single notes evoke worlds of expression), without ever seeming the least bit fussy on the contrary, they appear as natural as breathing. Her violin (it's not clear whether she's still playing a Vuillaume) sounds stentorian in the most commanding phrases, occasionally making an almost instantaneous connection between ear and gut. Aggressiveness of this kind might overwhelm the sonatas did not her readings invariably take such sensitive account of the music's subtleties. As it is, her tone simply lifts her to full equality with Zhu's bright and sonorous partnership, and it's captured by the bright and sonorous recorded sound. But the duo explores darker regions as well, darker than Grumiaux may have dared in the Sonata, K 304; and they appear fully prepared to thread their way through the more labyrinthine complexities of the Sonata, K 526. A promotional DVD providing visual as well as auditory fragments of the program (might a full DVD be forthcoming?) reveals that Hahn and Zhu apply their myriad subtle brush strokes with almost none of the swaying and swooning in which other young musicians so frequently indulge, perhaps to create a (disingenuous?) visual impression of the responses their musicianship simply cannot evoke

When all's said and done, though, Grumiaux still lurks disturbingly in the background. His straightforwardness (compare his readings of Bach, for example, to Milstein's later, more nuanced, ones) maintains a standard of purity that Hahn and Zhu may not even have been trying to challenge; in that regard, and in that regard alone, Hahn can't quite match Grumiaux. A critic once referred to Szymon Goldberg's "walking-on-eggs" style in Mozart, and Hahn's isn't that either. But her performances, while wholly her own, equal or surpass any I've heard. And the stirring recorded sound adds an extra measure of urgency to an already urgent recommendation. Essential.

-- Robert Maxham, FANFARE

More reviews:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/mozart-violin-sonatas-k301-k304-k376-and-k526
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Oct05/Mozart_Hahn_4775572.htm
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/d/dgg775572a.php
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-violin-sonatas-k-301-304-376-526-mw0001842787
http://www.amazon.com/Violin-Sonatas-301-304-376/dp/B0009JAENU

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 in Salzburg – 5 December 1791 in Vienna) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. Till his death in Vienna, he composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Mozart is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is profound on subsequent Western art music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart

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Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. In her active international career she has performed throughout the world both as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and as a recitalist. She also has built a reputation for championing contemporary music. Several composers have written works specially for her, including concerti by Edgar Meyer and Jennifer Higdon. She has released 16 albums on the Deutsche Grammophon and Sony labels, in addition to three DVDs, an Oscar-nominated movie soundtrack, an award-winning recording for children, and various compilations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Hahn

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