THE LITTLE RED VIOLIN THAT WOULD

>From Indiana they came, the wondrous young violinist Joshua Bell (of
Bloomington) and the conductor-on-the-brink-of-fame Robert Spano (of
Elkhart -- although born in CONNEAUT, Ohio).

They brought a quirky, grand program with them to the San Francisco
Symphony concert in Davies Hall tonight, with the centerpiece of the world
premiere of John Corigliano's `The Red Violin: Chaconne for Violin and
Orchestra.'

The 25-minute piece is actually the core of a soundtrack for a movie yet to
come, scheduled for release by Sony next summer.  Sony Classical, the SFS,
the Boston Symphony and Bell hisself acted as co-commissioners of the work.

Chaconne? According to Michael Steinberg: `The French word chaconne --
long ago naturalized into English -- originating about 1600, signifies a
slow dance in triple meter.  As chaconne is now used, it means a set of
variations over a repeated series of chords or a repeated bass line.'
Steinberg cites the Brahms Fourth finale as a symphonic example.  I didn't
find the piece living up either to the definition or to Brahms, although
it's just about the best Corigliano I ever heard.

Well, back to the movies.  Yes, we all know and love `The Red Shoes' and
`The Red Balloon,' so let's get ready for `The Red Violin.' It will be, if
all goes well, a flick tracing the history of a fictional violin through
three centuries.  The director is Francois Gerard, of `Thirty-Two Short
Films About Glenn Gould.' Bell (who will record the score soon, with
Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia) is artistic consultant and `body
double' for the film.  The concert piece is based on `Anna's Theme,' the
film's solo violin melody.

How is it? Pretty good.  It has an attention-grabbing opener, very
`atmospheric' and quiet, solidly in traditional tonality and yet
unmisteakably `modern.' There are delicate pizzicato parts (mingling with
indelicate coughing from the winter audience), tricky theme repetitions
with sudden cutoffs just at the moment of resolution, a couple of startling
brass outbursts in the middle of peaceful passages, and then a `Jurassic
Park - the Final Chapter' finale.  It may be a good idea to save money on
making the film and allow audiences to make up their own movies based on
the music.

The music is so new that Bell -- whose memory is just fine -- needed
the score in front of him.  But both in this and in the Saint-Saens
`Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso,' the violinist was brilliant, with a
clear, flawless, powerful delivery.  Even in this age of violinist-glut,
Bell is a standout.

Spano -- of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Brooklyn Academy of Music,
getting ready for debuts at the Chicago Lyric, Houston Grand Opera, Santa
Fe and La Scala (Toto, we're not in Indiana anymore!) -- doesn't *look*
like a conductor, but he sure as hell acts like one.  A man of rapt,
constant attention to everything, Spano is both intense and relaxed,
apparently in complete command.  He bracketed the two violin pieces with
excellent performances of Gerhard's `Alegrias' Suite and the concert
version of Falla's `The Three-Cornered Hat.'

Janos Gereben/SF
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