Hilary Hahn: Schoenberg, Sibelius Violin Concertos

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Personnel: Hilary Hahn, violin; Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Ms. Hahn writes in the accompanying booklet: "Schoenberg's musical language … intrigued me with its expressive range. I asked about solo pieces and learned of a violin concerto … legendary for its unplayability. … Typically, when I buy a new score, I save it for a rainy day. In this case, I didn't want to wait, and it's a good thing I didn't. This was unlike any other piece I'd studied. It was, physically speaking, quite demanding; to play certain passages, I had to train my hands to adopt positions completely new to me. Excited by both the novelty of the writing and its musical possibilities, I proposed this recording to my record company. My first performances were still a couple of years away; it took me all that time to be able to play the piece comfortably up to Schoenberg's tempi — to the oft-ignored tempi printed in the score, that is. At the time of my first performance, I knew that the concerto would speak well for itself, but I didn't know what the public reaction would be. As it turned out, in the 21st century, the Schoenberg was a hit."