The Joshua Bell of today (past phases of prodigy, movie star, R.A.M.
teacher, etc.) is a virtuoso worth his weight in platinum (gold prices
being down), but he is so much more than that.

When he performed the Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3 tonight with the
San Francisco Symphony in Davies Hall, I heard an involved, thoughtful,
*sincere* musician who played the work without posing or artifice of any
kind.

Powerful and simple, unadorned but breathtakingly lyrical in the quiet
passages, Bell's performance was fresh and convincing.  In the Finale,
where it's so tempting to go on autopilot, he didn't, and then made the
most of he gorgeous "Tchaikovsky passage."

This would be good news any time, but there is a special significance
to the timing of this concert.  We have witnessed lately a number of
"star" soloists, virtuoso players who came across very well as show-biz
attractions, but the music suffered.  In fact, the last violinist before
Bell appearing in Davies Hall was Han-Na Chang, an astonishing young
fiddle-player who had no idea what her "Haydn" was about...  nor did
the audience, which celebrated her athletic accomplishments anyway.

At the other end of the spectrum (but with the same end result) is a
violinist on order of Pinchas Zuckerman who *can* make music, but doesn't
care anymore.

Bell is a fabulous violinist, an outstanding musician, and he *believes* in
the music he performs.  That combination is something to celebrate.

If we had MTT on the podium (the conductor-equivalent of the Bell
phenomenon), it would have been an event for the ages, but we had to settle
for Paavo Berglund who allowed the orchestra to play more noisily than it
has in a long time.

Berglund is not a bad sort, but both in the Saint-Saens and the following
Schubert C major Symphony, he presented a steady, reliable, rather dull
performance.  In San Francisco, we are used to this, after a decade of
Herbert Blomstedt, nice guy, upstanding musician, the Eisenhower of
conductors.

Janos Gereben/SF
[log in to unmask]