Hilary Hahn

Recently I stumbled on this YouTube video of Hilary Hahn at the age of 15 playing the gigue from Bach's partita number 2 for solo violin. Sadly, the video is not high enough quality to capture the rapidity of her bow and finger movements, but you can get a fairly good idea.

But what's really extraordinary is the absolutely breathtaking quality of her music. At 15 she was (in my opinion, and the opinion of some others as well) the most gifted violinist alive. This involves not only technical perfection (producing exactly the notes you want, at exactly the volume you want) but interpretation as well: phrasing, volumes, ornamentation, etc., the things that differentiate just playing notes from great performance. Admittedly, some of her interpretation probably came from her instructors.

She's now in her early 30's, so this recording was made fifteen years ago. I immediately bought her album of the Bach solo violin works (unfortunately she's recorded only three of the six -- this video is just one movement from one partita). I've always loved the Bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin, and the recording I had before was Itzhak Perlman's. But Hahn's performance is even better. I believe the album I have was recorded just a year or two after the one in the YouTube link.

Not only is she now my new favorite musician, but she has pushed the violin ahead of the harpsichord as my new favorite instrument, the way she makes it sing. Bach is often called "mathematical," but I find his music to be intensely emotional, and Hilary Hahn brings it to new heights. Absolutely breathtaking.

If you like this piece, I recommend the album Hilary Hahn Plays Bach, available at Amazon and on iTunes and probably at your local classical music store.

 

Here's another. She's older in this one, and the visual is just a series of stills, no video of her playing: