Within the classical violin world, there are three nice mountains to climb for the solo fiddler: J.S. Bach‘s six Sonatas and Partitas, from 1720; Paganini’s 24 Caprices, accomplished in 1817; and the Six Sonatas by the Belgian grasp Eugéne Ysaÿe, who was busy composing them precisely 100 years in the past.

To mark the centenary, Hilary Hahn has trekked to the height, releasing a brand new album of all six of Ysaÿe’s thorny works, every with a definite character, every reaching treacherous and stylish heights. Ysaÿe is credited with ushering within the fashionable mode of violin enjoying that emphasised virtuosity (however not empty exhibitionism), daring sounds and free-wheeling creativeness.

All of that’s rigorously packed into the Third Sonata, subtitled “Ballade.” Simply attending to all of the notes is a serious feat, however Hahn, with a giant, burgundy tone and pinpoint accuracy, finds a story arc amid the composer’s thicket of double stops and broadly-colored harmonies. The piece opens with a sober plea, rising upward, braking all of a sudden, as if delivering a warning. A jagged theme emerges, labored out in passages calm as a whisper or turbulent as a gale pressure cri de coeur. Ysaÿe closes with a daredevil end that might make Paganini tremble.

Whereas the music was as soon as thought-about primarily grist for violin geeks, over the a long time Ysaÿe’s sonatas have slowly secured a foothold within the repertoire. Hahn’s new performances assure the fascination with these lovely, inscrutable items won’t quickly fade.