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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Five BRILLIANT Stars. Three outstanding musical talents in a singular exhilarating encounter. This recording has two classical music superstars, American violin virtuoso Hilary Hahn and Ukrainian-born piano virtuoso Valentina Lisitsa, playing four beautifully evocative and challenging sonatas by America's genius modernist composer Charles Ives (1874-1954). The Pulitzer Prize-winning Ives' idiosyncratic music is an amazing vortex of classical, spiritual, and folk influences blending with early 20th Century Americana into his own unique timeless musical vision. Hilary notes the initial difficulty they had in deciphering Ives' detailed, demanding notations, which makes the wonderful flow of these recorded pieces all the more appreciated. Then they took these sonatas on a well-received world tour over two musical seasons before going into the studio: this enjoyable recording is the outcome of that evolving musical experience. These are musical marvels with the ladies playing wonderfully, individually and collectively, with fire and emotion. The 'best of the best' begins with the brilliantly-played Sonata for Violin and Piano No 1, especially the amazing mercurial 8 minute Allegro movement which sounds avant garde with 2 divergent juxtaposed lines amid florid conventional beauty. In the Sonata for Violin and Piano No 2, Ives' "Autumn" luminously captures the season, "In The Barn" has sprightly country-dance figurations and "turkey in the straw" allusions, and the calm of "The Revival" movement ultimately is whipped into a frenzy and then calmness, all in just over 3 minutes. Sonata No 3 starts with the remarkable 12 minute Adagio, double versed into Andante & Allegretto sub-movements with "Shenandoah" quotes throughout the movements. In Sonata No 4, Children's Day at the Camp Meeting, the wide-ranging Largo movement goes from reverie to revelry to a snipet of "Yes, Jesus". The Allegro movement alludes to and then becomes "Shall We Gather At The River". Charles Ives might have been very pleased with this recording of his music. These enormously-gifted musicians function as a dynamic integrated duo that is well-recorded by Deutsche Grammophon. Bravo, Hilary, Valentina and Charles! My Highest Recommendation. Five MARVELOUS Stars. (mp3 download of 12 tracks; Time: ~64m:45s. Trivia: Charles Ives wrote his last piece, "Sunrise", 27 years before his death. His music comprises over 100 works, detailed in his "114 Songs".)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The music sounds quite off-the-wall, with the majority of it sounding like improvisation. But it's generally not too hard to swallow; I think because they're playing clearly, and they seem to balance each other nicely and keep it all on track. It never sounds too grating or harsh either, because their playing is lively without being over-the-top.
There are some lively rythyms which sound like they come from traditional American dances, and some 'jazzy' sounds too. Also some quite exciting flourishes and interplay between the violin and piano.
The first three sonatas tend to meander around quite a bit, and it's difficult to tell where one sonata ends and the next begins. The fourth sonata is the most concise and cohesive. It has a catchy rythym in the first movement, and in the second movement, a beautiful wistful melody emerging from a wandering violin line. A playful tune in the last movement gives way to a rather abrupt end to the sonata.
If you like your music with a strict time that you can follow and clearly defined melodies, don't buy it; it'll do your head in. But if you're not too demanding that way, and you want about an hour's worth of music with an edgy, improvisational feel and some catchy bits, give it a go!
There are some lively rythyms which sound like they come from traditional American dances, and some 'jazzy' sounds too. Also some quite exciting flourishes and interplay between the violin and piano.
The first three sonatas tend to meander around quite a bit, and it's difficult to tell where one sonata ends and the next begins. The fourth sonata is the most concise and cohesive. It has a catchy rythym in the first movement, and in the second movement, a beautiful wistful melody emerging from a wandering violin line. A playful tune in the last movement gives way to a rather abrupt end to the sonata.
If you like your music with a strict time that you can follow and clearly defined melodies, don't buy it; it'll do your head in. But if you're not too demanding that way, and you want about an hour's worth of music with an edgy, improvisational feel and some catchy bits, give it a go!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
17 reviews
36 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Lyrical Ives
13 Oct 2011
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was eagerly awaiting this album from Hilary Hahn and Valentina Lisitsa, and it has certainly proven to be worth the wait. These are wonderful performances of Charles Ives' violin sonatas.
In advance of this release, in recent weeks I have been listening quite a bit to the great performances of these same works by Curt Thompson and Rodney Waters on the Naxos American label. While both discs are outstanding, I do somewhat prefer these new interpretations by Hahn and Lisitsa. It is an overgeneralization, so take it with a big grain of salt -- but I'll still say the Thompson/Waters performances bring out more of the darker beauty of these sonatas, while Hahn and Lisitsa bring out more of the light and lyricism. I hate to use the "a" word, but these are surely some of the more accessible performances of the Ives violin sonatas available.
This is apparent from the first strains of the album, when the first notes of the first movement of Sonata No. 1 are played with a flowing grace, rather than the clipped brooding I had been accustomed to. Or in the second movement of Sonata No. 2 -- Ives' mash-up of "Turkey in the Straw" and "The Battle Cry of Freedom" -- which takes on more of the feeling of a playful romp. And I really loved the performance of Sonata No. 3, which is my favorite of the lot.
Tempos are brisk. In fact, looking through the four sets of the complete Ives sonatas available on Amazon's MP3 site, these Hahn/Lisitsa recordings have significantly shorter total runtimes than almost any sets of the sonatas out there. This is also true for most individual movements of most of the sonatas.
These performances won me over. I will continue to value the Thompson/Waters, but Hahn and Lisitsa have given a sunnier alternative, and have also inspired me to check out more of the other available recordings of the Ives sonatas. These are rich and satisfying works that can easily take on different colors based on interpretive choices. I like the colors presented here. Warmly recommended.
In advance of this release, in recent weeks I have been listening quite a bit to the great performances of these same works by Curt Thompson and Rodney Waters on the Naxos American label. While both discs are outstanding, I do somewhat prefer these new interpretations by Hahn and Lisitsa. It is an overgeneralization, so take it with a big grain of salt -- but I'll still say the Thompson/Waters performances bring out more of the darker beauty of these sonatas, while Hahn and Lisitsa bring out more of the light and lyricism. I hate to use the "a" word, but these are surely some of the more accessible performances of the Ives violin sonatas available.
This is apparent from the first strains of the album, when the first notes of the first movement of Sonata No. 1 are played with a flowing grace, rather than the clipped brooding I had been accustomed to. Or in the second movement of Sonata No. 2 -- Ives' mash-up of "Turkey in the Straw" and "The Battle Cry of Freedom" -- which takes on more of the feeling of a playful romp. And I really loved the performance of Sonata No. 3, which is my favorite of the lot.
Tempos are brisk. In fact, looking through the four sets of the complete Ives sonatas available on Amazon's MP3 site, these Hahn/Lisitsa recordings have significantly shorter total runtimes than almost any sets of the sonatas out there. This is also true for most individual movements of most of the sonatas.
These performances won me over. I will continue to value the Thompson/Waters, but Hahn and Lisitsa have given a sunnier alternative, and have also inspired me to check out more of the other available recordings of the Ives sonatas. These are rich and satisfying works that can easily take on different colors based on interpretive choices. I like the colors presented here. Warmly recommended.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
AN EXHILARATING ENCOUNTER: HILARY & VALENTINA MEET THE BRILLIANCE OF CHARLES IVES
12 Oct 2011
Format:Audio CD
Five BRILLIANT Stars. Three outstanding musical talents in a singular exhilarating encounter. This recording has two classical music superstars, American violin virtuoso Hilary Hahn and Ukrainian-born piano virtuoso Valentina Lisitsa, playing four beautifully evocative and challenging sonatas by America's genius modernist composer Charles Ives (1874-1954). The Pulitzer Prize-winning Ives' idiosyncratic music is an amazing vortex of classical, spiritual, and folk influences blending with early 20th Century Americana into his own unique timeless musical vision. Hilary notes the initial difficulty they had in deciphering Ives' detailed, demanding notations, which makes the wonderful flow of these recorded pieces all the more appreciated. Then they took these sonatas on a well-received world tour over two musical seasons before going into the studio: this enjoyable recording is the outcome of that remarkable, evolving musical experience. These are musical marvels with the ladies playing wonderfully, individually and collectively, with fire and emotion. The 'best of the best' begins with the brilliantly-played Sonata for Violin and Piano No 1, especially the amazing mercurial 8 minute Allegro movement which sounds avant garde with 2 divergent juxtaposed lines amid florid conventional beauty. In the Sonata for Violin and Piano No 2, Ives' "Autumn" luminously captures the season, "In The Barn" has sprightly country-dance figurations and "turkey in the straw" allusions, and the calm of "The Revival" movement ultimately is whipped into a frenzy and then calmness, all in just over 3 minutes. Sonata No 3 starts with the remarkable 12 minute Adagio, double versed into Andante & Allegretto sub-movements with "Shenandoah" quotes throughout the movements. In Sonata No 4, Children's Day at the Camp Meeting, the wide-ranging Largo movement goes from reverie to revelry to a snipet of "Yes, Jesus". The Allegro movement alludes to and then becomes "Shall We Gather At The River". Charles Ives might have been very pleased with this recording of his music. These enormously-gifted musicians function as a dynamic integrated duo that is well-recorded by Deutsche Grammophon. Bravo, Hilary, Valentina and Charles! My Highest Recommendation. Five MARVELOUS Stars. (mp3 download of 12 tracks; Time: ~64m:45s. Trivia: Charles Ives wrote his last piece, "Sunrise", 27 years before his death. His music comprises over 100 works, detailed in his "114 Songs".)
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
I think it's definitive. Compared with the plays by Gregory Fulkerson, Hansheinz Schneeberger and Curt Thompson
29 Nov 2011
Format:Audio CD
Compared with the plays by Gregory Fulkerson, Hansheinz Schneeberger and Curt Thompson, I like Hahn's Ives best. I think it's definitive. Mr. Giordano Bruno says Hahn's tone is dry and thin; her bowing is agile but inexpressive. I agree with him. And I think Hahn intentionally did it so.
The verse III (Allegretto) of the first movement of Sonata No. 3 is in three-eight time and it's gigue like and scherzo. Hilary and Valentina play it aggressive. And they play the second movement of Sonata No. 3 acrobatic. I like it.
Not only brisk music fascinates. Valentina plays the complex introduction of Sonata No. 1 LEGATO (the first six notes are described STACCATO in the sheet music). It's beautiful. My first impression of the second movement (Largo cantabile) of Sonata No. 1 played by Hilary Hahn was good. Only Hilary's "The Old Oaken Bucket" sounds nostalgic to me. The fantastic obbligato of violin (from bar 12 of the second movement of Sonata No. 1) is heard only by Hilary Hahn, not heard by Fulkerson, Thompson and Schneeberger, being lost in the sound of the piano.
The verse III (Allegretto) of the first movement of Sonata No. 3 is in three-eight time and it's gigue like and scherzo. Hilary and Valentina play it aggressive. And they play the second movement of Sonata No. 3 acrobatic. I like it.
Not only brisk music fascinates. Valentina plays the complex introduction of Sonata No. 1 LEGATO (the first six notes are described STACCATO in the sheet music). It's beautiful. My first impression of the second movement (Largo cantabile) of Sonata No. 1 played by Hilary Hahn was good. Only Hilary's "The Old Oaken Bucket" sounds nostalgic to me. The fantastic obbligato of violin (from bar 12 of the second movement of Sonata No. 1) is heard only by Hilary Hahn, not heard by Fulkerson, Thompson and Schneeberger, being lost in the sound of the piano.
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