Saturday, September 18, 1999
CONCERT REVIEW
Teen violinist, CSO give dazzling performances
BY JANELLE GELFAND
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's final opening night of the century scored a home run Friday night.
With an ad campaign in place touting music of the 20th century, the CSO began its 105th season by looking back — at music by Barber (1940) and Shostakovich (1941). But it also looked ahead with a spectacular young violin soloist, Hilary Hahn.
At 19, Ms. Hahn possesses the stunning technique of a seasoned virtuoso. But more importantly, she is a thoughtful musician who communicates with grace, confidence and an uncanny maturity beyond her years. She played with the kind of sweetness and warmth that points to her studies with Jascha Brodsky, the last student of Eugene Ysaye.
From the first phrase of Barber's lyrical Violin Concerto,it was a glowing performance. The slow movement, with its long, arching theme, was beautifully felt, and the lower register of Ms. Hahn's Vuillaume violin had an appealing richness.
She tackled the finale's fiendishly difficult passages as if they were child's play, turning at times to communicate with the orchestra. Maestro Jesus Lopez-Cobos was a sensitive partner, and the orchestra matched her in warmth.
When the crowd of 1,967 responded with a standing ovation, she charmed them by announcing she would sign autographs at intermission (the line was long). Then she dazzled again with an encore: the Andante from J.S. Bach's Sonata No. 2.
After intermission, Mr. Lopez-Cobos led a gripping performance of Shostakovich's epic Symphony No. 7, Leningrad. The 75-minute work calls for massive forces, which included an added row of brass across the back of Music Hall's stage. One of the lesser heard of the composer's 15 symphonies, it was last played here in 1986.
The work was composed during World War II around the time of the Leningrad siege, and travels through a wide range of emotions.
Mr. Lopez-Cobos brought a fervor to his reading, conducting with a straightforwardness that set off the great crescendos and crashing fortissimos. The orchestra responded with an impressive intensity.
The first movement, a symphony in itself, benefited from superb playing in the winds, particularly during 280 measures of drum rolls (William Platt). The scherzo had a melancholy cast and a wonderful bass clarinet solo (Ron Aufmann). The violas shone in the third movement; the finale was both convincing and powerful, earning a lengthy, well-deserved standing ovation.
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