Oh, Hahn's technique is off the charts, certainly. My first impression of Hahn came from the Barber concerto, and that remains one of my favorites of all time (both the recording and the piece). For a while, that's all I could base my opinion on, and so she was my favorite violinist (given that at the time, I knew very little about violin... even now I couldn't claim to know much about the instrument and its players). She's still at least in my top 5, which I guess I'll randomly name here, in no particular order:
Hilary Hahn
Jascha Heifetz
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Midori (for saving my life... long story

)
Gil Shaham
Shlomo Mintz
Nathan Milstien
Perlman... Vengerov... Oistrach...
I have too many favorites. Now, if we change the subject to cellists, my one and all-time favorite would definitely be Steven Isserlis. He even emailed me once!
