Hilary Hahn - Eclipse (Trailer)

Hilary Hahn’s latest album, Eclipse, celebrates the power of authenticity. Recorded with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and its Music Director (2014-2021), Andrés Orozco-Estrada, it sees the triple Grammy-winning violinist deliver interpretations of three works charged with universal emotions yet rooted in their composers’ musical heritage: Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, a tour de force from the Czech composer’s “Slavic period,” Ginastera’s Violin Concerto, a strikingly original 20th-century gem, and Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, among the greatest virtuoso showpieces of all time. “This recording tells stories I didn’t understand until I returned to the stage after a long hiatus: the elation of coming into one’s own, the declaration of an artistic identity, and what it means to regain your native language through music,” says Hahn. The album marks a series of musical milestones for the violinist. She has long loved the works it contains and discovered fresh insights and details of expression as she recorded each of them for the first time. Eclipse also reflects Hahn’s close collaboration with the musicians of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony (in their home city and on tour) and her extensive partnership with Maestro Orozco-Estrada. Above all, it documents her return to recording, following a year-long sabbatical and many additional months of artistic solitude. Hahn experienced intense personal evolution during her time away from the stage. After waves of canceled concerts and extended solo preparation, she arrived in Frankfurt for the live-stream of Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, unsure of where her playing would lead her. With Orozco-Estrada and the Frankfurt musicians, Hahn returned to her truest form of expression, performing. In isolation, she realized, her musical identity had strengthened rather than waned. “When I got onstage for the Dvořák in April last year,” she recalls, “it was like a jolt of life, as if the world came rushing back in Technicolor.” Hahn 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. Alongside the joy of once again working with fellow artists, Hilary Hahn was captivated by the unique qualities of the works on Eclipse. All three composers featured on the album spent extended periods away from home – Dvořák and Ginastera in the United States, Sarasate almost permanently on tour – but remained in touch with their cultural roots even as they developed their own unique and multi-layered artistic voices. “I feel with this album like we made something powerfully beautiful together during a difficult time,” she adds. “When we played the final note of the Carmen Fantasy, I felt like I’d gone through a huge shift of perspective, through something really challenging, and emerged stronger as a person and a musician.” She compares this shift to the return of light that always follows an eclipse. “Artistic evolution can come from many sources, but it often comes from a big event. I am so happy that I can share this pivot, this landing, this merging of voices in the global language of music.” Hilary Hahn - Eclipse (Trailer) Listen to 'Eclipse': http://dgt.link/eclipse Subscribe here for more classical video clips – The Best Of Classical Music: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-DG Follow Hilary Hahn: Instagram:   / violincase   Facebook:   / hilaryhahn​​   Twitter:   / violincase​​​​   Website: http://hilaryhahn.com/​​​