Hilary HAHN violin
SHUI Lan conductor

Graceful Shostakovich?
Second Opinions, by Chia Han-Leon

But I had a problem with tonight's performance of the Shostakovich, and although it is ultimately a matter of taste, I felt that this grace may not be the best thing to put in such a dark work.

I found Ms Hahn's performance a little reticent, not quite engaging enough. Her skill is unfaultable otherwise, her intonation consistent, her tone production as secure as light must travel in a straight line. She is capable of a range of tone colour, though most is in the brighter palette - an extension into the darker hues would be welcome in this work.

Her fingerwork in the Scherzo was slick, better than effortless. The rendition was exciting indeed, evoking that much-needed Shostakovichian sense of structure on the verge of collapse. Her accents are rather soft, though, and does not quite have a powerful kick.

However, her sense of sustainment is superb - I have rarely heard the Passacaglia held so well. Time passes very quickly listening to her. Emotionally though, I think Ms Hahn is not yet there, which is not unexpected for a youthful violinist. There is that reticence still, as if she was concentrating on the music as score rather than as spiritual expression.

But she remains, as always, infinitely graceful, with very fine touch, meditatively relaxed, not tensed... almost objective - perfect qualities in her encore of Bach's Siciliano from Sonata No.1. This Shostakovich has its own beauty, which, I'm sure in the future, Ms Hahn will imbue with more creative risk, more rubato... and maybe even more viciousness...

A Whirl of Her Own
by Benjamin Chee

"Hi. I'm Hilary."

There is a huge crowd of fans - not to mention a television crew from Arts Central - pressing at the autograph table, watching as we introduce ourselves to each other and shake hands before Hilary gets down to the second part of business for the evening. The first, of course, was her performance of the first Shostakovich violin concerto just minutes before.

Hilary Hahn in person does not look anything like the carefully cultivated, even severe-looking publicity portraits you see on her CD covers and magazines. The facial resemblence is there, but not the bubbly and amicable character who makes it a point to meet the local audiences wherever she performs. She takes her seat, puts down her own bag of markers and gets started signing autographs.

"Hi," she asks brightly. "What's your name ? Do you play an instrument ?" Perhaps part of the reason why it's taking her longer than usual to "clear" the crowd is her taking the time to talk to each person, and not being shy about doing so.

There are more people in the queue than usual, and not just because of her celebrity status. Before she performed the encore - a movement from a Bach sonata - she announced in a well-rehearsed voice that she would be out in the lobby at the intermission "and I would like to meet you all, so please drop by", and sending a ripple of astonishment through the audience.

This is the first night and the crowd threatens, in fact, to escalate into a near-riot. The huge table that serves as a writing platform as well as a barrier gets moved back several inches, prompting Hilary to put down her pen and push back out, "If you'll just let me clear some space, otherwise I'll be signing up against the wall."

It's also quite clear that there is no way that she will finish this crowd in the period of intermission. She turns to me, "If I can't finish signing for everyone, I'll come back after the concert to continue doing it. I'll be here until everyone's gotten it." As the second warning bell goes, we make the announcement. Naturally, the crowd barely moves, but she gets up anyway and, minded by orchestral staff, jostles her way back to her dressing room. I have my hands full reassuring everyone that she will be back.

By the end of the intermission on the first half on the first night, we have sold more than forty copies of her Bach album. There are only nine pieces left. Backstage, behind the stage door with Sibelius's Fifth booming away just inside, she is waiting, listening to the vociferous music-making. I consult with her and a decision is made. We will have to "ration" the remaining nine Bach CDs for the second day's crowd.

On the second night, things got slightly worse. She was simply unable to stop signing, not with an intransigent queue that unwilling to budge, even when the Sibelius Fifth started. It was only about twenty minutes later that she could finally extricate herself to get backstage to change out of her gown and into something more casual - if only for the second round of autographs at concert's end.

The Slavonic Dance by Dvorak encore at the end of the whole programme buys her a few extra minutes to start signing, for already a crowd - choosing to skip the encore - has formed. The time is about fifteen past ten and we would all be there until nearly eleven, and by the time we leave, it is fifteen past eleven. Two nights together, Hilary spent over two hours meeting fans, signing autographs, taking pictures and shaking hands.

Speaking with Steve Hahn, her father and travelling companion, he told me that there have been occasions when there were so many people waiting in the queue that she signed right through the second half, until a fresh batch of crowd came out, and she was unable to change or take a break in-between. "Sometimes, it's like she's in the middle of a whirlwind of activity."

"But she wants to do this - meet the people," he says, as we talk about this and things as well: how he and Hilary's mother used to also be on the volunteer group at the Peabody Conservatory (when Hilary was only ten) and the problems they faced as well as volunteers. We compare experiences and find out that volunteers are more alike than not even on opposite ends of the globe.

We get around to talking about names. We tell him that Yo-yo Ma translates to "Friendly Horse" in the most simplistic sense. In return, he tells us about Hilary's name - Hilary meaning "happy" and Hahn being German for "male chicken", so Hilary Hahn is quite literally a "happy chicken".

Hilary Hahn's online diary explores her Singapore trip!