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Joshua Bell
Feb. 11th, 2006 11:35 amI saw Joshua Bell Thursday night. I allowed extra time to miss the turnoff to Villa Montalvo, but I didn't, so I wound up arriving a half-hour early. Easily found a parking spot and was able to stroll over to the hall. That was a nice mellow beginning to the evening (especially as contrasted with the other time that I've been there, when I missed the turnoff, got lost, and almost missed John Williams).
Bell is touring with a pianist named Jeremy Denk. Denk has a blog called Think Denk. (I think that his 2/10 entry is hilarious.)
It was weird to see them walk out on stage about 20 feet away from me. Their mannerisms seemed more suited to the concert stage than this little hall (about 300 people?). Denk especially (to my mind) seemed to be hamming it up. Bell wore an expression of fierce concentration, but he kept on shifting from foot to foot and leaning to the music.
Of course they're both incredible musicians. I was thinking about how expressive the violin was in Bell's hands, but the piano was really expressive in Denk's hands as well. And they chose music that had equally interesting violin and piano parts; Denk wasn't just playing accompaniment to Bell's violin.
The only pieces that I recognized at all were Beethoven's Spring Sonata and Saint-Saëns' Caprice in the Form of a Waltz. Both exquisite. The Saint-Saëns, especially, is a very showy piece, and they both seemed to be having a blast playing it. (The rest of the program was Saint-Saëns' Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in D minor, Bartók's Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Prokofiev's Five Melodies for Violin and Piano, and an encore of Tchaikovsky's Mélodie.)
The audience was a bit restless the whole time. Bell took it upon himself to teach them concert etiquette. Anyone getting back to their seat late or not quieting down fast enough earned a look from Joshua Bell. (His looks worked too; during intermission, I ran out, used the washroom, and ran right back because I didn't want to be late and earn a look from Joshua Bell!) He taught the audience not to applaud between movements. People applauded after the first one, and after the second movement, he shut the audience up with one look. He trained people that if he was still holding his bow up, it was the end of a movement, and when he let his bow down, it was the end of the piece. Actually, I think that he handled that well. There also was a crying child at the very beginning. In that case, Bell and Denk ignored it, but I bet that they were pissed. I was pissed--who brings a small child to a classical concert? There also was a moth that was flying around Bell for a while and then flew into the grand piano -;) So I had a tough time surrendering to the music, but I guess that you give up some control when you hear music played live. (Funny that the Classical Music LJ community just had a couple of posts about concert etiquette: Applauding after movements and How to Spot the Nine Different Types of Audience Members at a Classical Music Concert.)
Bell's looks notwithstanding, he can be very self-effacing when he talks. He said that they would be coming back in August "but that's the last thing you probably want to hear about right now."
It was an enjoyable evening. In April, I have tickets to go there again to hear Christopher Parkening.
Bell is touring with a pianist named Jeremy Denk. Denk has a blog called Think Denk. (I think that his 2/10 entry is hilarious.)
It was weird to see them walk out on stage about 20 feet away from me. Their mannerisms seemed more suited to the concert stage than this little hall (about 300 people?). Denk especially (to my mind) seemed to be hamming it up. Bell wore an expression of fierce concentration, but he kept on shifting from foot to foot and leaning to the music.
Of course they're both incredible musicians. I was thinking about how expressive the violin was in Bell's hands, but the piano was really expressive in Denk's hands as well. And they chose music that had equally interesting violin and piano parts; Denk wasn't just playing accompaniment to Bell's violin.
The only pieces that I recognized at all were Beethoven's Spring Sonata and Saint-Saëns' Caprice in the Form of a Waltz. Both exquisite. The Saint-Saëns, especially, is a very showy piece, and they both seemed to be having a blast playing it. (The rest of the program was Saint-Saëns' Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in D minor, Bartók's Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Prokofiev's Five Melodies for Violin and Piano, and an encore of Tchaikovsky's Mélodie.)
The audience was a bit restless the whole time. Bell took it upon himself to teach them concert etiquette. Anyone getting back to their seat late or not quieting down fast enough earned a look from Joshua Bell. (His looks worked too; during intermission, I ran out, used the washroom, and ran right back because I didn't want to be late and earn a look from Joshua Bell!) He taught the audience not to applaud between movements. People applauded after the first one, and after the second movement, he shut the audience up with one look. He trained people that if he was still holding his bow up, it was the end of a movement, and when he let his bow down, it was the end of the piece. Actually, I think that he handled that well. There also was a crying child at the very beginning. In that case, Bell and Denk ignored it, but I bet that they were pissed. I was pissed--who brings a small child to a classical concert? There also was a moth that was flying around Bell for a while and then flew into the grand piano -;) So I had a tough time surrendering to the music, but I guess that you give up some control when you hear music played live. (Funny that the Classical Music LJ community just had a couple of posts about concert etiquette: Applauding after movements and How to Spot the Nine Different Types of Audience Members at a Classical Music Concert.)
Bell's looks notwithstanding, he can be very self-effacing when he talks. He said that they would be coming back in August "but that's the last thing you probably want to hear about right now."
It was an enjoyable evening. In April, I have tickets to go there again to hear Christopher Parkening.
