“In Brahms’s Violin Concerto, with the always welcome Hilary Hahn, the interplay between soloist, conductor, and orchestra charmed our eyes. Hahn clearly paid close attention to the introduction before responding. She entered with warmly expressive shaping, and Nelsons induced the orchestra to support in kind. The rocking gentleness of the rich opening continued in the pensive oboe solo, while the “gypsy” flash of the finale made for a brilliant close from all hands. Audience rapture induced the soloist to encore with her friend Steven Banks’s “Through my Mother’s Eyes.””

Classical Scene