Music review: String star Hilary Hahn brings lyricism and clarity to Sibelius’s beloved Violin Concerto in D Minor with the VSO
Moving encore of Bach’s aching “Sarabande” was dedicated to the late Maestro Bramwell Tovey
Hilary Hahn
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presented Hilary Hahn at the Orpheum on January 13 and 14
IN 2008, HILARY HAHN stepped onto the Orpheum stage with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35. Those who were there can still recall how astonishing it was to witness the then-28-year-old’s artistry.
It’s taken almost two decades for Hahn to return. In the intervening years, she’s cemented her place as one of the world’s most acclaimed touring soloists, become a dedicated champion of new music, and been busy endeavouring to make classical music accessible to young people. She’s built a passionate following on social media, where her #100daysofpractice challenge encourages other artists to work on their skills, while providing an unvarnished glimpse at the sheer labour and focus it takes to maintain a career as a touring classical musician.
Just moments before taking the Orpheum stage on January 13, she posted a clip of herself in full gown doing a last-minute warm-up in a bathroom—presumably filmed while the VSO performed the concert opener, Nine Proverbs by Montreal-based Canadian composer Ana Sokolović, an intricate, cacophonous work inspired by Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s 16th-century satirical painting Netherlandish Proverbs.
It’s hard to imagine a better vehicle for Hahn’s lyricism and technique than Jean Sibelius’s beloved Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47. While the work is full of show-stopping virtuosity and drama, Hahn never devolved into mere showmanship, leading instead with purposeful clarity and thoughtfulness.
Its ghostly opening—that shimmering wash of strings, the soloist entering with that gentle, almost plaintive G-A-D line—is always inherently goosebump-inducing. With Hahn’s liquid tone and impossible bow control, it’s simply exquisite.
In her lush treatment of the work, she engaged the orchestra—in fine form under the leadership of Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra conductor Courtney Lewis, who stepped in at the last minute for an ailing Otto Tausk—in a true dialogue, exchanging patterns and motifs to integrate into a complete whole.
Of course, Hahn also delivered the goods in technical wizardry, blazing up and down the fingerboard with flair and precision, yet never losing the sense of spaciousness she wove throughout the piece. Where some performers opt for aggression, particularly in the rollicking third “Allegro, ma non tanto” movement, with its devilish crowd-pleasing runs, she stayed centered and composed throughout, taking care to phrase them and layer them with dynamics.
Perhaps the most moving moment came later, when she was brought back for an encore and dedicated an achingly beautiful performance of the “Sarabande” from Bach’s Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004, to the late Maestro Bramwell Tovey. (Tovey, Music Director of the VSO from 2000 to 2015, passed away after a battle with cancer this past July, and will be remembered by the symphony in a celebration of life event January 15.)
It was a gracious, thoughtful gesture—much like Hahn’s musicianship itself.
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