Hilary Hahn seems to revel in unexpected programs for her recordings, and this one is no exception. On the surface, the Violin Concerto of Arnold Schoenberg, finished in the mid-1930s during his exile in America, is not an obvious pairing for Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto, written at the very start of the 20th century. But the coupling makes perfect sense to Hilary Hahn. As she explains it, she knew that for many listeners this would be their first experience of Schoenberg's probing, virtuosic music. Accordingly, she says, “I wanted to pair the Schoenberg with something that would reflect its dark lyrical side, as well as its playfulness, from an unexpected angle. The Sibelius concerto seemed to me the perfect foil. The Sibelius is often presented as either a highly Romantic work, or as very cold, but I think that it carries within it other aspects that don't always rise to the surface in traditional couplings. I thought that the Schoenberg and the Sibelius, side-by-side, might bring out unexpected nuances in each other."

Biographically, the two composers were worlds apart but linked by a deep love of the visual arts. “Both composers were active in their countries' artistic communities," says Hilary Hahn. “Schoenberg was a painter and spent time in the company of other artists. Sibelius lived for long periods in an artists' colony in Finland. These were broad-minded, inquisitive men who liked exploring new things, and this sense of adventure shows in the music of both."

As a teenager, Sibelius planned to become a virtuoso, and when he moved to Vienna in 1890 to study composition, he even auditioned for the Philharmonic, but without success. However, in 1902-03 he poured his love of the violin into what was to be the only concerto he ever wrote: a haunting, at times thrillingly virtuosic work. Now one of the best-loved and most frequently performed concertos in the repertoire, the Sibelius's appeal lies not just in its daring juxtaposition of rhapsodic lyrical passages with volcanic outbursts and with moments of ethereal transparency, but also in its unconventional structure. “The Sibelius has become standard repertoire, but its interpretive possibilities have not been exhausted. It's a surprisingly forward-thinking piece," says Hilary Hahn.

“The Schoenberg, on the other hand, seems to reach more deeply into the past. Of course it's innovative in ways that we don't expect from a violin concerto: Schoenberg's compositional techniques were groundbreaking, and musically, as a listener, you never know what's waiting around the next bend. But heard these days, this is not the spiky, inaccessible concerto it was once rumored to be. At heart it's exciting, highly imaginative, very romantic, emotionally poignant music, perfectly served by Schoenberg's novel approach to musical technique." Premiered by American violinist Louis Krasner in 1940, and held back in part because of an early reputation for being “unplayable" (Heifetz's assessment of the new score), Schoenberg's concerto has taken longer than some to attain the success of other legendary works. But it is a deeply rewarding piece in which Schoenberg employs his famous 12-tone technique artfully, without sacrificing the music's expressive content.

Hilary Hahn thinks those who expect to be intimidated by Schoenberg will be pleasantly surprised by this recording. “Little bits of his personality come through if you give them a chance. You hear hints of his history: earlier in life he'd composed for cabaret and briefly you can hear that. You can hear, too, that he had a very lyrical, romantic streak. This is a piece that really shouldn't be played academically, just as you wouldn't play the Brahms concerto like an academic study. No composer writes music that doesn't reflect some intense feeling."

“But, logistically speaking," she says, “it can be a hard piece to present. Many orchestras, even today, are playing it for the first time, so it's important to have ample rehearsal time to master its techniques and also to delve as deeply as possible into the interpretation. I love introducing an orchestra to the Schoenberg. Everyone I've played it with has become excited about making it work in concert, and audiences have really enjoyed it. Going into the recording sessions, therefore, I had a good feeling about the project and about working with Esa-Pekka Salonen. He was ideal, because he really comprehends the inner workings of music. He brings out colors and textures, he guides the orchestra's interpretation, and he's a top-notch collaborative artist. I knew all that would help the Schoenberg, and I think it adds a special dimension to the Sibelius as well."

Far from being daunted by Schoenberg's concerto, Hilary Hahn is excited by the physical challenge that he sets his soloist. Someone once told Schoenberg that his work would remain unplayed until violinists developed a sixth finger, but Hahn disagrees. “You do have to find the right fingering for each particular note and chord. And you have to have the right kind of hand to do it. But if you put in the time, five fingers are plenty!" She says the orchestra parts are also challenging, “but what's most tricky about the piece is getting past the idea that it's cast in a foreign musical language. If the musicians onstage can just work with it from the start like they would any Romantic concerto, it rapidly takes on a life of its own."

How would she describe the Schoenberg to someone who hadn't heard it? “I hear elements of Shostakovich and Stravinsky, although not everyone agrees with me on that! I also hear Bach, of course - Schoenberg was very influenced by Bach's structural genius. I hear the German Romantic musical tradition. I like the way he changes from one mood to the next, from one section to the next. Sometimes it's absolutely schizophrenic. One moment will be very serene and removed and abstract. And the next moment there'll be a twisted, demented waltz, and then you hear a little bit of cabaret, a melody you could whistle.... and then you'll get to something that's equally wonderful but entirely unlike anything you've heard before. Like every great piece, it's a work that's defined by the sum of its parts. Individual sections are interesting, but they sound even better when you drop them into the piece as a whole."

Such interaction between parts is, of course, the beauty of this recording - it's a chance to familiarize and refamiliarize yourself with two very different masterpieces playing off of each other. As Hilary Hahn says, “By itself, the Sibelius Violin Concerto is one of those pieces that you can't forget: you finish listening and its impact stays with you. The Schoenberg is the same. And hearing the Sibelius alongside the Schoenberg, and having the possibility to start all over again with either one you choose - well, that's one of the great experiences of musical life."

Listing of Works

Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951)
Violin Concerto, Op.36
       
Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957)
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47