Classical Classroom

The violinist walks through a piece by a lesser-known composer who was once more famous than Mozart. Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn, who has played a few concerts in her day – somewhere around 1,437 of them – talks about Henri Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No. 4, which she plays on her latest CD. Is music composed by a violinist for violinists easier or more challenging to play? How was it that Vieuxtemps was more popular than Mozart at one point and now…not so much? And most importantly, Hahn discusses her violin case’s Twitter account.   Violinist Hilary Hahn. Photo © Michael Patrick O’Leary, courtesy of IMG Artists. Audio production by Todd “Takei” Hulslander with beaming up by Dacia Clay and editing by Mark DiClaudio. Music in this episode, from Hilary Hahn’s CD Mozart 5 Vieuxtemps 4 Violin Concertos (Deutsche Grammophon): – Henri Vieuxtemps, Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 31. Hilary Hahn, violin. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Conducted by Paavo Järvi. For more Hilary Hahn: www.hilar