Bach Concertos
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Free Music Notes for Bach Concertos
Free Music Review: Way too Fast !!!
Hit: 2 Stars
Ok, I'm going to get flamed for this and I don't like writing negative reviews but here goes anyways...I am a big Hahn fan. I love her tone, vibrato and how she freely sings with her incredible sounding Vuillaume. Edith Esiler is dead on regarding the ridiculously fast tempo that distracted me so much I could not enjoy this disk except for the gorgeous second movement of the Bach double. I doubt Ms. Hahn is to blame because what can you do when an orchestra is playing too fast? (except play along) The production is top notch in its crystalline production but I simply can not recommend this release.
I can however recommend her solo Bach recording and her stellar recording of the Brahms (I havent heard the mendy/shosty yet, but soon). That being said I look forward to her future releases and to seeing her perform live someday.
For better recordings of these concertos try the CD with Arthur Grumiaux. I also fully recommend the Mutter dvd of the Bach vc 1 with Karajan and the Bach vc 2 on the Oistrakh DVD as well as the VHS of with Stern and Perlman for the double.
Ok you can shoot me now...
Free Music Review: No groove
Hit: 2 Stars
Some of the other reviewers on this site have made the same comment: that this is too fast. However, the negative reviewers all either sounded like idiots or like snobs with lines like "she misses the poetry of the music". I don't listen to Bach for poetry (what does that even mean?). Bach has groove, and I listen to Bach cause he's got the Groove. And so I thought I'd like it peppy. I usually do. For example, I like Glenn Gould's early recording of the Goldberg Variations, which has also been criticized for being too fast.
But, I didn't like this. At all. I'm not sure if the root of the problem is that it's too fast, but the result is that it's definitely not musical. No groove at all. Even if you liked Hahn's solo Bach, skip this recording. It's really not worth it, even at $9.99. (If you're wondering, one star is for good pitch, and the other is for the slow movement of the Concerto for 2 violins.)
If you want a good recording of the same music, get the 2006 recording of Akiko Suwanai and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. It's got groove and beauty.
Free Music Review: Fast, furious and boring.
Hit: 2 Stars
This is the second set of Bach's violin concertos I have come across, the first one had Leonard Bernstein at the harpsichord and Issac Stern playing the violin. I have yet to compare both of them to Bach's violin concertos by Andrew Manze or Tafelmusik, which are supposed to be the best renditions. Just comparing the Hilary Hahn and the Issac Stern version, I enjoyed the latter much more because the tempo and the phrasing are much better paced and controlled. Hahn and Stern's techniques are both superb; but tecniques do not necessarily translate into emotion and exquisite details. Hahn and the orchestra rushed through every single piece as if their lives depended on it, so much so that there was little contrast between even the fast and slow passages, and everything came out in identical texture ladden with some sort of thoughtless and emotionless frenzy, which is very unfortunately. Bach should be such joy to listen to; but listening to their CD made me disconcerted and confused. I will be very hard pressed to listen to it again.
Free Music Review: Fast and without feeling
Hit: 2 Stars
Hahn is a great musician, however, her first movement of Bach's second concerto is way too fast for my liking. How can I praise Hahn's performance when the tempo is too fast to show any feeling?
Yes, there is no feeling in this movement. It is almost mechanical! No, I do not wish for overly poignant songs that make people cry. However, I believe Hahn's performance of this concerto is an overly excessivly rushed one.
The one thing that prevents me from giving her 1 star is the fact that, while having a rocketing tempo, Hahn's playing is flawless. I have never spotted a single mistake in the recording.
In conclusion, I believe that this recording of Bach's second concerto is a disaster, mostly stemming from the fact that it speeds at a blazing tempo.
Free Music Review: Way too fast!
Hit: 2 Stars
I first heard this recording while listening to the radio, and was so upset by the tempi that I had to find out who the conductor was and why the normally sensitive and musically irreproachable Hilary Hahn was playing so breathlessly fast. When I found out it was the LA Chamber Orchestra, with Jeffrey Kahane conducting, it all came clear...Kahane is a noted speed burner, whose interpretations are often rushed and frantic. I cannot believe that these tempi were Hahn's choice...another reviewer astutely commented that it sounded like the LACO was rushing and Hahn was trying to slow them down. Let's hope Hilary records these pieces at a later date with a more sensitive accompanist.