All too often, pundits lament a fading interest in classical music, citing declining audiences. But such projections were proved false by Joshua Bell’s sold-out performance at Boettcher Concert Hall on Thursday.
Handsome, fiercely talented and with a reputation that precedes him, the virtuoso defies the tomes of writings that predict an inescapably dim future for classical music. Why?
For starters, Bell is a musician’s musician, unfailingly delivering a fresh, personal interpretation that’s uniquely his own – no matter that his repertoire on a given program may date back hundreds of years or, like Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor that he performed here, be overly familiar. His passionate approach to music is contagious, evoking a sense of excitement and a desire to be fully engaged in his music-making.
Through his distinct showmanship, Bell, 41 proves his understanding that it’s incumbent on a performer to entertain, and to impart the essence – the timeless humanness – of the music on tap.
Secondly, a simple equation of supply and demand also plays a role in achieving a full house. One-night-only events are easier to sell out – it’s unlikely that even Joshua Bell would have sold out two or three consecutive performances, as is the Colorado Symphony Orchestra’s usual formula.
With CSO Music Director Jeffrey Kahane conducting the CSO, Bell immediately put on his display his sure and honeyed tone throughout the gently-wrought concerto. But it wasn’t until his encore – a surprising, delightful set of variations on “Yankee Doodle” – that Bell gave in to his wildly free and unfettered impulses.
His 1713 Stradivarius sang and danced as Bell fiddled, stomped, swayed and whispered his way through the fabulously fun and varied arrangement by Belgian composer Henri Vieuxtemps. And lucky us, to hear Bell perform the same work he recently regaled on President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle for a Lincoln birthday gala.
The CSO, too, was in fine form, opening the all-Mendelssohn program with the soothing Nocturne and mischievous Scherzo from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” After intermission, Kahane led a forceful reading of the “Scottish” Symphony No. 3 in A minor, transitioning from one movement to the next without pause.
From its discreet, muted opening through its more agitated themes and militant finale, Kahane drove home the work’s references to Scottish folk music and pictorial reflection of Scottish landscapes.
Kudos to Kahane for generously donating his conducting services for the evening.
