The Philharmonic, which Dudamel will lead more frequently next season before he officially takes up the role, is already showing his influence. And he collaborated seamlessly with violinist Hilary Hahn, the evening's soloist and the orchestra's artist-in-residence.
A musician with a balanced voice, Hahn proved with Ginastera that she can make anything beautiful. In her interpretation, the work escapes its sharp angles. She folded trills, stops, and sweet harmonies into seamless lines, tapping into the flamboyance and patience familiar from Bach recordings as she harmonized her own.
The six etudes of the first movement were a showcase of Hahn's taste and her technical prowess. She showed comfort in handfuls of chords, soft thirds, gently seesawing arpeggios and glowing harmonics. Her Adagio was warm and generous, and she raced through the sinister Perpetuum Mobile with a raw touch that sounded more like an interpretive choice than an effect of breakneck speed.
Dudamel evoked subtlety as well as hectoring drama and elemental power in Ginastera. The harmonic etudes, which utilized the ethereal nature of celesta, harp, and glockenspiel, had an eerie ambivalence that vacillated between fairy magic and something more sinister. The study of quaver has taken on a haunting, liminal status.
The composure that made Hahn's Ginastera a captivating exercise in finding beauty in unexpected places undermined the flair of Sarasate's “Carmen” Fantasy, whose sophistication over the sensual melodies of Bizet's beloved opera evokes showmanship. A little more rhythmic dexterity would have moved the line forward. In melodic passages like the Habanera, Hahn gave off a slightly sing-song feel, but the languorous, seductive “Tra la la” section suited the way she sat back and savored her sound. Her encore, the Loure from Bach's Partita No. 3, also had lovely, long tones.