Published on May 08, 2005

One of the world’s hottest violinists performs tonight in Bangkok

Thailand’s musical circles have been abuzz ever since Hilary Hahn, one of the world’s most sought-after violinists, listed a planned Bangkok recital on her official website www.hilaryhahn.com.

This evening, with Natalie Zhu accompanying her on the piano, Hahn will be making her debut at the Thailand Culture Centre, where she will be displaying her unique talent for musical interpretation and her flawless technique.

Coming to Thailand carries a special meaning for Hahn, for it was in Thailand that her parents met in 1970 while studying together at Chiang Mai University. She remembers as a youngster growing up wearing a sweater with “Chiang Mai University” emblazoned on it.

“I heard a lot about Thailand, but somehow I have not had a chance to play here,” she said casually during an interview yesterday. Hahn just flew in from Hanoi, where she performed a recital, and today Bangkok will no doubt fall under the spell of her violin and her charm.

Most would love her playing, so pure, so honest and with such good taste. A world-class violinist, Hahn has a technique that leaves her with few peers. But she has never embraced technique for its own sake.

Her first album, an all-Bach programme called “Hillary Hahn Plays Bach”, says it all. She plays Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas, a renowned part of the pantheon of violin music, tackling their counterpoint beautifully, displaying the full vigour of a mature artist. The CD won her the 1997 Diapason D’or award and spent weeks on Billboard magazine’s classical charts.

All of her CDs released since that time, from Beethoven and Bernstein concertos to those of Samuel Barber and Edgar Meyer, further exemplify her exceptional talent and virtuosity. The Barber concerto is a must-listen with its breathtaking first movement and her pure tone and dazzling fingering on the high notes. Her rendition of the second movement almost makes your heart stop as the melancholy melody vibrates off the G string of her violin.

Her most recent album, released in September 2004, features the Elgar violin concerto and Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending”, with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis. You can also watch Hahn live “At the Last Night of the Prom” on DVD, in which she performs Mozart’s concerto No 4 in D major with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis as conductor. She plays with her feet firmly on the stage while she moves the upper part of her body freely. Her fingers are strong and secure, while her bowing technique is just impeccable. Hahn’s next CD will feature an all-Mozart sonata programme. It will be released some time in the autumn by Deutsche Grammophon.

As she and Zhu have been practising and working hard on the Mozart sonatas for the CD, they have decided to feature two Mozart sonatas (in F major K 376 and in E minor K 304) in the programme for their Bangkok debut. “The F major sonata is a great opening. We like to do two pieces back to back by the same composer so that the audience do not have to change their perspective while listening to them,” Hahn said.

The Bach sonata No 3 in C major with its tricky counterpoint and being the longest of all the Bach sonatas, is Hahn’s favourite. The programme will conclude with Faure’s sonata No 1 in A minor for violin and piano, opus 13.

Hahn said she was now doing probably 80 to 95 concerts a year. That is pretty tough. Since she is constantly on the road, she needs to manage her time well so that she can be in top physical and mental form. “I don’t have any particular routine, but I like to take a nap in the afternoon and wake up four hours before the concert,” she said. “Yes, I have to make sure that I have enough sleep.”

Still, Hahn finds time to do other things while she is on the international concert circuit, such as preparing for her recordings and working on the programmes or the schedules for the next season. She takes time off during the summer during which she enjoys taking part in musical festivals playing solo or playing chamber music.

This season, if you look at her website, you’ll find her recital tours in the US, Europe and Asia. Hahn has performed with all the world’s major orchestras and conductors.

Hilary Hahn was born in Lexington, Virginia. At the age of three she moved to Baltimore, where she began playing the violin one month before her fourth birthday in a local children’s programme. From age five to 10 she studied in Baltimore with Klara Berkovich, a native of Odessa, who taught for 25 years at the Leningrad School for the Musically Gifted. From 10 to 17 she studied at Curtis with the legendary Jascha Brodsky.

Thanong Khanthong

The Nation

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