The violinist Hilary Hahn has long outgrown the prodigal child status reviewers had attached to her after her dazzling debut. Today, she is a major performer of her time, equally at home on the concert stage and on social media, where she releases videos inviting viewers to practice with her every day. This duality perfectly reflects her professional development, enabling her to devote the same generosity to playing before demanding audiences all over the world and groups of curious babies in modest halls. After a ten-year hiatus, she returns to the Philharmonie Luxembourg for two concerts.
In the first concert, Hilary Hahn will team up with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Franck, a conductor with whom she particularly enjoys working «because he has a total overview of the path [she is] taking, and then adds his own ideas, which is wonderful». Together, they will perform the Violin Concerto by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a monument of the post-Beethoven repertoire for this instrument, which stands out among the Russian composer’s scores for its cheerful and jaunty character throughout.
The number of collaborators on her second evening will be smaller, but their talents will shine forth all the more. The cellist Gautier Capuçon and the pianist Rudolf Buchbinder form a trio with Hahn, interpreting the two works by Franz Schubert for this instrumentation – mature works, resplendent with Schubert’s love for art songs in their moving lyricism.
Whether in the alfresco atmosphere of the solo concerto or the intimacy of chamber music, Hilary Hahn’s mastery of the violin bow may leave listeners’ eyes moist – with sheer happiness!
Charlotte Brouard-Tartarin