Spohr: Violin Concerto No. 8 in A minor, Op. 47 'in modo di scena cantante'

“The virtues of this disc really centre around the music and Wallfisch's advocacy. Spohr's Violin Concerto in Friedrich Grützmacher's adaptation is a worthy addition to the repertoire which, with the other works, forms an attractive, versatile collection.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2011

“Raphael Wallfisch plays with great accomplishment and also affection...The Northern Chamber Orchestra's accompaniment is personable.” International Record Review, March 2011

“We hear the [Paganini] Concerto not as the patchwork of showy tricks and memorable tunes it often seems, but as a well crafted, unified work.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008

“There have been a number of fine accounts of Paganini's First Concerto down the years… Hilary Hahn plays the score complete and with such effortless command that the listener might be fooled into thinking that it really isn’t all that difficult… in Spohr's A minor Concerto... her exquisite shaping of Spohr's melodies and technical nonchalance pay special dividends. ...this is easily the finest version of this once-popular work to have emerged since Zukerman's long-deleted account of the early 1970s...” BBC Music Magazine, November 2006 ****

“After nearly 200 years Paganini still poses considerable challenges but Hilary Hahn's superior technique surmounts them easily, the highest and fastest passages accomplished with clarity, excellent intonation and no compromise on tonal quality. The notorious double-harmonics episode in the finale sounds are wonderully secure and beautiful.
And Hahn's musicianship is of a high order; we hear the Concerto not as the patchwork of showy tricks and memorable tunes it often seems, but as a well crafted, unified work. Other violinists may have produced performances with more edge-ofthe- seat excitement but few have excelled Hahn for finesse. Rather than striving to present the soloist as a heroic figure, she's content, with sympathetic orchestral support, to let us hear the concerto as a beautiful, enthralling piece.
In the Spohr, Hahn plays the recitative sections with splendid, bold expressiveness, and in the brilliant final movement shows a winning combination of strength, delicacy and lyricism.
Her very slow speed in the first aria, though, doesn't work: the music appears to stand still, with a complete change of mood for the contrasting episode. It's an outstanding disc, however, and can only enhance Hahn's reputation.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“After nearly 200 years Paganini still poses considerable challenges but Hilary Hahn's superior technique surmounts them easily… And Hahn's musicianship is of a high order; we hear the Concerto not as the patchwork of showy tricks and memorable tunes it often seems, but as a well crafted, unified work. In the Spohr, Hahn plays the recitative sections with splendid, bold expressiveness, and in the brilliant final movement shows a winning combination of strength, delicacy and lyricism. But I'd take issue with her very slow speed in the first aria. It's an outstanding disc, however, and can only enhance Hahn's reputation.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2006