If a feature of this concert with the Orchester Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Mikko Franck and violinist Hilary Hahn what stands out in the Isarphilharmonie is the precision with which the music is played. What is interesting is the different impression given to the evening’s performances: Brahms’ Violin Concerto and Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.
Actually, the comparison is inadmissible; this is not a scoring game. But anyone who experienced the violinist Christian Tetzlaff with the same violin concerto in the same place last week can hardly avoid comparative thoughts. Hahn plays the concerto with unbelievable perfection and transparency. She fixes every note, every double stop as precisely as if she had scratched at least a millimeter grid onto her fingerboard. The Adagio presents them with such crystal clarity that its melodic lines radiate an almost enraptured elegance and austerity. The fire of the third movement, it does not blaze with a warm light, but burns with an oxygen-optimized blue flame.
The applause that Hahn reaps is a storm of applause and leads to two encores – that’s right, because there’s no better way to play this concerto. But once you’ve seen how Tetzlaff gleefully digged out the heart and soul of the work, Hahn’s sharply cut autopsy of the same music also leaves you a bit at a loss.
With the Shostakovich symphony, the orchestra shows that precision and dedication are not mutually exclusive. The pizzicato coordination in the Allegretto is phenomenal. Just as in the first movement, in addition to all the power, the magical instrumentation at the end (solo violin, celesta and trumpet on a soft carpet) is illuminated. The wind section is of unsurpassable quality, and between Franck and the orchestra there is a basic understanding that seems almost tangible. Great.