Hourly Update

Violinist Hahn in fine form with TSO

In the span of 22 days, acclaimed violinist Hilary Hahn will have played Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D minor 11 times. On Tuesday, it was Stop No. 2, Day 6, performance No. 4 when she played it with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. It was Hahn's first-ever Tucson appearance, and it came on a night when the Tucson Convention Center complex was hopping. The TSO concert was delayed 15 or 20 minutes to allow patrons time to park. Parking in all the lots was scarce, as 1,200 symphony fans mingled with a capacity crowd filling the Leo Rich Theatre for the 14th Winter Chamber Music Festival. Next door at the Tucson Arena, thousands of teens, tweens and 20-somethings decked out in their finest T-shirts and tattered jeans turned out for WWE Smackdown/ECW wrestling. "This is not the WWE Smackdown," TSO conductor George Hanson informed his audience - about 50 of them from the Flowing Wells High School band program - after the orchestra turned in a wonderful reading of Sibelius' nationalistically rich "Finlandia." "You are in the right place," Hanson noted. And the right time. Seeing Hahn perform the Sibelius early in her monthlong run gave us a chance to see an artist who is still excited to play the piece and rehearsed enough to turn in a flawless performance on all fronts. Hahn plays with technical precision that is not stuffy or stiff; she throws her whole being into her playing. The sound she produces is vibrant and warm, with impeccable intonation and phrasing, and an interpretive wisdom that belies her 27 years. She feels the music far beyond the tips of her fingers and the stroke of her bow. Somewhere from deep within, she pulls those feelings to the surface to bring to life Sibelius' beautiful work. Several times when she was playing Tuesday night, you found yourself captivated by her mesmerizing stage presence. She bent at her midriff, her knees buckled and she swayed into the music as she played, bouncing lightly on the balls of her open-toed shoes on occasion. When it was the orchestra's turn, Hahn set her gaze upon the players - particularly concertmaster Steven Moeckel. She was in sync with what they were doing and, judging by the way she bobbed her head like a kid on the verge of rocking out at a pop concert, totally digging on the music. The orchestra repaid the compliment, sitting in silent awe as she whipped through the daunting virtuosic score. Her vibrato was dynamic, and her sound was crystalline and pure, lingering deliciously in the air with every note. The same could be said of her encore performance - prompted by a richly deserved standing ovation - of the short but beautiful "Largo" from J.S. Bach's Third Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin. Tuesday's concert, a classics special, also included Mussorgsky's cinematic and expressionist "Pictures at an Exhibition." Hahn is off to Utah for three performances of the Sibelius with the Utah Symphony Orchestra before she finds her way to Denmark and Sweden for performances No. 8 through 11. The TSO tonight begins a three-concert run that concludes its Russian Festival. (See related story in Friday's Accent and a review of Thursday's concert in Saturday's Accent.) Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@azstarnet.com or 573-4642.