Classical musicians do not become stars in their field by happenstance.
Each time they take the stage, they have to prove once again that they have the stuff to be counted among the best in the world.
Hilary Hahn did just that Friday evening at Boettcher Concert Hall, joining conductor Jeffrey Kahane and the Colorado Symphony for a spellbinding interpretation of Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 – a sure season highlight.
At just 26 years of age, the internationally acclaimed violinist has already transformed from a super-talent of the moment into an artist of lasting consequence.
Hahn possesses seemingly boundless technique and a resonant, expansive and eminently pleasing tone. But Friday, she offered something more: playing with depth of expression and real meaning.
With artful, fetching phrasings and nuanced transitions, she brought an evocative, storytelling sensibility to the all-important first movement, capturing the melancholic, faraway quality of its cadenza.
The concerto was memorable enough, but she topped it with a a bonus – a deeply moving and transporting version of a solo saraband by Johann Sebastian Bach, a composer for whom she has an obvious affinity.
Opening each half of the concert were striking takes on two short works by Sibelius – “Lemminkäinen’s Return” from “Four Legends,” Op. 22, No. 4, and “Valse Triste (Sad Waltz),” Op. 44, from “Kuolema.”
Completing this appealingly well-rounded, all-Finnish program was a rich, evocative version of “LA Variations,” a popular 1997 work by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Best known as the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he is also a first-rate composer.
Opening with a bang and closing with a coda that fades to a lone piccolo, this distinctive if elusive work has no musical through-line and can even seem disjointed at times. Built on a complex, chordal understructure and drenched in chromaticism, its mood and feel constantly shift.
Perhaps most notable are the extraordinary range of often exotic colors Salonen draws from the orchestra, with his use of such unusual instruments as the contrabass clarinet and alto flute, not to mention a synthesizer and a barrage of percussion.
It is a rich, wonderfully variegated sonic wonderland with an ideal balance of daring and listenability. A kind of tough but enthralling beauty.
The concert will be repeated at 2:30 p.m. today.
