Eugène Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27

by Hilary Hahn

Overview

It is a bit surprising that Hilary Hahn has never recorded the Six Sonatas for solo violin, Op. 27, until now. She was a student of Jascha Brodsky, who was Ysaye's last student, and more than any other violinist active today, she maintains the traditions of the great Belgian school. Maybe she was just waiting for the time and opportunity to do the sonatas proud; she recorded them in late 2022. Whatever the case, it has been worth the wait: these are thrilling performances that step out onto the knife's edge and never retreat. It is not just that Hahn handles the technical demands flawlessly -- the fierce double stops of the first movement of the first sonata, the various Bachian fugues, and the timbre shifts in the "Dawn" movement of the fifth sonata. It is that she seems to step into the personality of Ysaye. The sonatas feint toward referring to Bach's unaccompanied violin sonatas and even quote them, but more important is that each sonata is dedicated to one of Ysaye's violinistic contemporaries, and Hahn steps into the styles of these (Joseph Szigeti, Jacques Thibaud, George Enescu, Fritz Kreisler, Mathieu Crickboom, and Manuel Quiroga) and makes them vividly different. Listeners will have to decide for themselves about Deutsche Grammophon's sound, recorded in a Boston radio station studio. It places the listener right up next to Hahn, which is not exactly idiomatic for these big, public works but is viscerally exciting, capturing all the miraculous shades of her violin. In any event, here is a violin recording that has the commanding power of the violin's golden age of a century ago. It made classical best-seller charts in the summer of 2023. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	07/14/2023
Label:	Deutsche Grammophon
UPC:	0028948641765
Rank:	5159

Tracks

1. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 1 in G minor: 1. Grave. Lento assai
2. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 1 in G minor: 2. Fugato. Molto moderato
3. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 1 in G minor: 3. Allegretto poco scherzoso. Amabile - Poco animato
4. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 1 in G minor: 4. Finale con brio. Allegro fermo
5. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 2 in A minor: 1. Obsession. Prélude. Poco vivace - Meno mosso - Tempo vivo
6. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 2 in A minor: 2. Malinconia. Poco lento
7. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 2 in A minor: 3. Danse des ombres. Sarabande (lento) - Var. 1 - Var. 2 (Musette) - Var. 3 Minore - Var. 4 - Var. 5 - Var. 6
8. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 2 in A minor: 4. Les Furies. Allegro furioso
9. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 3 in D minor "Ballade"
10. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 4 in E minor: 1. Allemanda. Lento maestoso
11. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 4 in E minor: 2. Sarabande. Quasi lento
12. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 4 in E minor: 3. Finale. Presto ma non troppo - Giocosamente e meno mosso - Tempo primo - Più animato ma poco
13. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 5 in G major: 1. L'Aurore. Lento assai
14. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 5 in G major: 2. Danse rustique. Allegro giocoso molto moderato - Moderato amabile - Tempo primo - Poco più mosso
15. Six Sonatas for Violin Solo Op. 27~Sonata No. 6 in E major

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Hilary Hahn   Primary Artist,Violin

Technical Credits

Antonio Oliart Ros   Recording Producer,Mastering,Engineer,Editing
Hilary Hahn   Liner Notes,Producer
Eugene Ysaye   Composer
Rachel-Mariah Rau   Project Coordinator
Philipp Zeidler   Product Manager
Nicole Albring   Production Manager
Katrin Bahrmann   Design
Chris Lee   Photography,Cover Photo
Eva Reisinger   Liner Note Translation,Booklet Editor
Robert Kirzinger   Liner Notes
Angelika Meissner   Executive Producer