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Stories   >   Hilary Hahn discusses 'Eclipse' with Violinist.com

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Hilary Hahn discusses 'Eclipse' with Violinist.com

Posted: October 14, 2022

Violinist.com - Laurie Niles writes…..Did the sun really just go away, right in the middle of the day? That's what seems to happen during a solar eclipse. Ancient peoples thought it portended the end of the world, or the permanent blotting out of the sun. But no - the shadow passes, the light returns.

For violinist Hilary Hahn, a performer who thrives in the spotlight, the shadow of the pandemic felt like a long eclipse. And the return of the light - a new beginning.

The recording that she released just last week actually is called Eclipse. For Hilary, who was just named Musical America’s 2023 Artist of the Year, it was her first-ever recording of three works: Antonin Dvorak's Violin Concerto; Alberto Ginastera’s Violin Concerto; and Pablo de Sarasate's "Carmen Fantasy."

Her original plan had been to perform these works for a full season, then record them. All those concerts would have allowed her the kind of valuable exploration with orchestra that comes only with live performances. But that season and those concerts didn't happen - instead, she had to prepare in isolation. So it took a leap of faith, when she decided to go ahead and record the works with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and its Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

"When I got onstage for the Dvorák (live-stream) in April 2021, it was like a jolt of life, as if the world came rushing back in Technicolor," she said. Hilary and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony gave their first post-lockdown concert together in front of an audience two months later, during which their Ginastera and Sarasate performances were recorded live.

Last week I spoke with Hilary over the phone about this special project that marked her return to live performing and recording. For Hilary, the pandemic clarified a certain fact of her life: she needs the stage.

"Emotionally, that's where I can put everything in one certain place, where I can flow it out of me and put it to use," she said. "When I didn't have that, when I didn't have the dynamic of making music with other people, when I wasn't playing music that other people were hearing by listening live, then I just kind of - I wouldn't say 'imploded.' But I felt a little melty inside." (she laughed)

"I felt a little collapse-y and melty and confused, and a little aimless," she said. "But I still knew that I was getting back to it. It was just a matter of, where am I, after all of this? Where have I landed? And who am I, as a musician? I've been going through a lot of personal evolution, but what does it mean in my playing?"

Hilary had performed the Dvorak Violin Concerto many times over her career, even though she had not recorded it. But the Ginastera Concerto was new to her fingers, and learning it in isolation was challenging.

"I was trying, very hard, to learn it during the pandemic," she said, laughing. "It felt like Teflon, but I was trying!" While there are recordings of the Ginastera, Hilary had a different vision for it. That required a little experimentation - and feedback from the orchestra.

In some ways it was like preparing for a world premiere of a piece, she said. "I was trying to do something a little different, so I had to have my own relationship to it," Hilary said, "and there was an element of unknowability until I was able to play it with the orchestra."

"Also, when you play by yourself, you can never replicate what you do physically on the instrument, playing with other people," she said. "Something else gets drawn out of me when I'm in the moment, and that happens in rehearsal. But it never happens in a practice room. You would think that I would have a way to draw it out - no. I just know how to practice so that I'm ready I'm ready to harness it when that kicks in."

Photo by O.J. Slaughter.
 

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW