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Hilary Hahn describes the
playing technique of Mischa Elman.
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GREAT PERFORMANCES: How and why did you become
involved with this documentary, THE ART OF VIOLIN?
Hilary Hahn: One day when I was on tour in Europe, the French documentary director Bruno Monsaingeon sent me a four-hour videotape of violinists. He knew about my interest in players from earlier eras, and he had a pretty good idea of how exciting it would be to me to see Mischa Elman, Efrem Zimbalist, Nathan Milstein, Joseph Szigeti, Ginette Neveu, Fritz Kreisler, Eugène Ysaÿe in action -- and he was right. Later, in an empty bar in Berlin, we did a videotaped interview together where he asked me about my reactions to what I had seen. For THE ART OF VIOLIN, he used that interview (and several others) as commentary, interspersed between his footage of those great players playing. When I saw the final product, I was impressed -- and I had to laugh at how excited I sounded.
GP: Did you listen to the recordings of violinists from earlier eras as part of your violin study?
HH: Yes. I used to go to sleep to Milstein playing the Mendelssohn concerto. I loved Elman -- not only in the little pieces, but also in [the] concertos -- and Heifetz was always exciting. I completely wore out a tape of Grumiaux playing the six sonatas of Handel, and my teacher from the age of ten, Jascha Brodsky, studied with both Ysaÿe and Zimbalist and used to tell me stories about them and their contemporaries. I knew what everybody looked like from photos, and I knew how they sounded from their recordings. But I had no mental picture of how they moved and played.
GP: Are there any particular 20th-century violinists
who have influenced you or whose playing you greatly admire?
HH: I was surely most influenced by my two teachers -- Klara Berkovich in Baltimore, from age five to ten, and Jascha Brodsky in Philadelphia, from age ten to 17. Both were very demanding teachers, but very kind, superb violinists: musicians of style and taste who allowed no technical shortcuts. I was extremely lucky to grow up under their guidance.
GP: Is there anyone who should have been included in
the film who wasn't?
HH: Bruno [Monsaingeon] scoured the earth looking for archival footage of soloists, and I am convinced that if a player wasn't on the tape that he sent me, there was no footage to be found. He found footage of Kreisler on board [a] ship and Ysaÿe at a wedding. He even found some silent [film] footage of each of them playing a few notes, but of course I would like to have seen more. Jan Kubelík probably came too early [to appear on film], but he would have been interesting to see -- as would Erika Morini, another student of [Otakar] Sevcik. I'd love to have seen the Curtis String Quartet in action and Joseph Joachim. One can always think of others. But the amazing thing is how many people Bruno found.
GP: How should the archival material featured in the
film be viewed, and what is its value to young artists?
HH: It gives young players -- and old ones, for that matter -- an opportunity to see that they are part of a long and very rich tradition of violinists, each of whom played differently, each of whom played effectively. And for those who are studious, it is a great resource for studying the technique of playing the violin. Nearly every school, every body type, every possible manner of holding the violin and bow is represented.
GP: The filmmakers touch on the fact that the careers of some
child prodigies were cut short due to the pressures of stardom.
Is this a concern among contemporary artists like yourself,
who have been in the spotlight from such a young age? How
do you cope with the rigors of performing and being in the public
eye?
HH: Actually, nearly every player in [the film] began life as a precocious child violinist, thrived, and gradually developed into a master player. Some had ... careers [as child prodigies] and some did not -- just as some later became household names and some did not. But it is almost certain that all began early. Beyond that, there were no rules.
In my case, I was advised to follow my instincts, sidestep the prodigy circuit, and stay in school, where I could continue to grow at my own pace. That is what I did, taking two lessons a week with Mr. Brodsky at the Curtis Institute, studying the liberal arts, playing chamber music with my friends, and each year adding a few more performances. I delayed recordings and management until I felt ready for them. I learned about traveling gradually; I learned to pace myself for the long term. By the time I came into the public eye, I was used to it.
GP: Violinists like Eugène Ysaÿe, Georges
Enesco, and Fritz Kriesler also became accomplished composers
and conductors. Are contemporary violinists encouraged to pursue
other disciplines within classical music? Does composing or
conducting or performing other genres of music hold any interest
for you?
HH: There are violinists who compose these days, but most of them are jazz or blues or country music players, who grow up improvising. For my part, I studied counterpoint and solfège and harmonic theory and music history and elementary composition at the Curtis Institute, as I was growing up, along with the usual college liberal arts [courses]. I even took a course in conducting, but among the musical disciplines, I always found myself most drawn to performing. But not everyone is. I had violinist friends who left the violin for conducting, and one who left the violin to compose. Certainly, I could not have greater admiration for musicians like Edgar Meyer, a superb double-bass virtuoso who is just as fine a composer. But for me, at this point in my life, one life in music is enough.
GP: What aspect of being a violinist gives you the
greatest pleasure and what do you find the most difficult?
HH: There is something about being on stage when I am well prepared, performing with other musicians for an attentive audience, that I have found incredibly satisfying ever since I was a small child. The satisfaction, of course, depends on a fair amount of prior work, but communicating music to people is something that I feel very lucky to be able to do.
The most difficult aspect of being a soloist is getting enough sleep.
Text of an e-mail interview with violinist Hilary Hahn from December, 2001. (Top banner photos of Ms. Hahn by Nana Watanabe/SONY Classical.)
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