hilary hahn..violinist

I listened to H.Hahn's Beethoven and, despite the technical prowess, I was uninspired by the musical result. Of course, this is a concerto played by so many so well (Oistrakh, Heifetz, Taschner, Hubermann, etc) that comparisons may be insidious.

She's very gifted technically; needs a little more maturing in her interpretations, in my view (I was not moved by her Brahms, though I did like her Stravinsky), but she definitely has promise. I agree with Eric above, there are many fine young violinists out there, only time will tell which ones are the greatest of their generations.

I agree with Raquel. I believe Vengerov is in a class of his own. At the top. I also very much enjoy Bell, Hahn, Midori. Tedi Papavrami playing Sergey Prokofiev Violin Concertos Nos.1&2 is pretty unbelievable too.

Back on 2/13 I suggested that David Oistrach is my ideal for the Tschaikowsky, and noted that my old Angel LP is about worn out. Following up on this, I looked for a replacement on CD, and found one on Amazon…A Deutsche Grammophon reissue two CD set of Bach Brahms and Tschaikowsky. The Brahms and Tschaikowsky recordings date from 1954, and are mono. Excellent mono. But the Tschaikowsky is such an unbelievable performance, better than the later Angel LP, that I thought I should pass along a recommendation for this CD. I don’t want to sound sexist, but Oistrach could play with all the sensitivity of the best woman violinists, but no woman, and few if any men, could play with the power and endurance he displayed.

Eldartford - For the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto also check out the older mono recording on Testament of Leonid Kogan's performance. Not the greatest in terms of the recording itself (tape hiss), but a wonderful and engaging performance nonetheless! Truly one of the great performances of this piece. The Prokofiev No. 2 on the same disk is outstanding as well.

Marco