Elgar · Violin Concerto · Vaughan Williams · The Lark Ascendin
Elgar Violin Concerto · Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascendin · Hilary Hahn · London Symphony Orchestra · Sir Colin Davis
WAV Pack+CUE 299 MB | MP3 HQ (Tracks) 135 MB | EAC | No Log | Covers | Booklet | 2004
Elgar · Violin Concerto · Vaughan Williams · The Lark Ascendin
Elgar Violin Concerto Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Hilary Hahn vn London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis DG 0 474 5042; …. 8732 (66' • DDD)
Cigar — selected comparisons:
Takezawa, Bavarian RSO, C Davis (3/94) (RCA) 09026 61612-2
Kennedy, CBSO, Rattle (1/98) (EMI) 556413-2 Menuhin, LSO, Elgar (7/99R) (EMI) 566979-2 Sammons, New Queen's Hall Orch, Wood (5/021?) (NAXO) 8 110951
Vaughan Williams — selected comparison:
Little, BBC SO, A Davis (5/03R) (WARM 0927 49584-2
Hahn surmounts every technical hurdle but fights shy of any deeper emotions
Let me say straight away that I have the highest regard for this brilliant young fiddler, but her eagerly anticipated account of the Elgar puzzles me. The solo part's pyrotechnics hold no terrors for the immaculately unruffled Hahn, but where's the searing passion, intimacy and heartache behind the notes? Turn to Sammons, Kennedy or the teenage Menuhin, and you are transported to another world entirely, where keen temperament, abundant tonal and dynamic variety, quicksilver reflexes and devastating emotional candour probe the soul of Elgar's inspiration.
Having much enjoyed Sir Colin Davis's accompaniment with the Bavarian RSO for Kyoko Takezawa a decade ago, I'm disappointed by his self-consciously 'weighty' conducting here (Elgar's poco stringendo markings become poco ritardando), and by a lack of total involvement, at least compared to their their LSO Live Elgar symphony cycle. True, Davis opts for a sensible, flowing tempo for the central Andante, yet even there a disconcerting, thumb-twiddling blandness soon descends. Things do perk up a bit for the first half of the finale, but when the sublime cadenza remains a tingle-free zone, you know something's seriously awry. The overmiked and overbearing production doesn't help either (genuine hush is in short supply).
As for the The Lark Ascending, Hahn gives a mellifluous, technically flawless rendering, but her partnership with Davis (who makes a meal of VW's ineffably simple opening bars) doesn't speak without artifice; she misses the natural ease and wonder of Jean Pougnet on EMI and the radiance of Tasmin Little. Talking of Little, isn't it about time some record company captured her deeply felt interpretation of the Elgar? As it stands, this slick but studio-bound coupling is uncompetitive. Andrew Achenbach
Gramophone. November 2004, page: 60
Hilary Hahn · London Symphony Orchestra · Sir Colin Davis
CD
Edward Elgar:
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in B minor, op.61
Ralph Vaughan Williams:
The Lark Ascending
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