Ysaÿe Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op. 27 Hilary Hahn (violin) DG 486 4176 61:56 mins
Hilary Hahn’s teacher at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute was Jascha Brodsky, himself a pupil of Eugène Ysaÿe. As she tells us in her engaging booklet note, she had not heard Ysaÿe’s own recordings for many years, and when she did, between sessions of recording these Sonatas, she found that aspects of her playing nonetheless resembled his: ‘It felt like rummaging around in your grandparents’ attic, opening a box of family photos, and seeing your own face gazing at you from the image of an ancestor.’ Inadvertently, her remark also gives an idea of the level her interpretations reach here.
Ysaÿe’s Six Solo Sonatas are a technical pinnacle of the violin repertoire, yet their dazzling range of musical invention also means that they offer far more than specialist appeal, and Hahn’s playing responds with enthralling artistry to every mercurial shade of the music’s flow of moods and ideas.
While Bach’s example is prominent in the First Sonata, the Second is a totally different conception, resembling a multi-movement set of virtuoso improvisations on the four-note ‘Dies irae’ theme. The nature-evoking Fifth co-opts elements of Debussy, and the Sixth has a strongly Spanish flavour. It’s a measure of Hahn’s mastery that not just all of violin-playing seems to be here, but all of music itself too.
The recording technology plays a starring role of its own. The balance is close enough to give an almost literal sense of the wood of Hahn’s violin richly vibrating, yet not to an extent that might tire or exasperate the ear, and there is exactly enough surrounding acoustical space to convey the singing warmth of the overall sound.
Malcolm Hayes