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 Joshua Bell is probably one of the three or four most well known classical violinists today (I don't count Andre Rieu whose videos are ubiquitous on PBS during pledge time as a classical violinist-Mr. Bell is the 'substance' to the 'show' of Mr. Rieu).  However, Bell is more than just a pretty face.  This guy has it all.  Interesting recital programs, impeccable and virtuosic technique and most importantly, he makes something of the music he is playing.  Many artists can play the notes but Mr. Bell puts thought behind them.  And you know he is thinking of not merely the next note, but how this phrase connects to the next phrase and how those many phrases make up the whole of a movement so that it becomes a complete work and just not a succession of notes.

First up on the program was the Janácek Sonata for Violin and Piano, JW VII/7. Truthfully, I had never heard this work until I checked out a copy of it from the library.  I listened to the recording diligently in hopes that it would hit me or at least, it would hit me when I heard Bell play it.   While I think Bell played it as well as it could be played, I think it's somewhat of a musical dud despite two lovely secondary melodies in the second and fourth movements.  If you loved it, feel free to let me know why it moved you.

The first half concluded with one of my favorite violin sonatas and one of the great masterpieces of the violin sonata literature, the Brahms Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108.  While most violin sonatas are in three movements (as are Brahms' earlier ones), Brahms obviously was so overflowing with music he needed four movements to contain his inspiration.  I always think of Brahms as richly harmonic rhythmically vital and filled with beautiful melodies.  This sonata exemplifies exactly what I think of when I think of Brahms.  It opens with a strong opening movement with lots of syncopation and a flowing melody which leads into a second movement that features one of Brahms' most beautiful long breathed melodies.  The third movement is dance-like and rhythmically complicated - the relative calm before the storm of the last movement.  

Bell maintained a beautiful singing tone, even in the most frenzied passages.  He cut through the dense harmonies of the piano, but did not stint on the drama.  I just love hearing two excellent artists playing off one another in one of my favorite works.

Before I forget, I'd like to comment on the accompanist, Jeremy Denk.  This is a first-class pianist with a first-class career of his own - but not just because he is an accompanist for Joshua Bell.  Without dismissing pianists who make excellent livings as accompanists,  I admire any soloist who chooses a pianist with a significant career in his own right.  Such a pianist will contribute his own ideas and not be subservient to the big soloist; and the sum of two first rate artists will be greater than the two individual parts.  Denk was no exception.  I particularly enjoyed his interpretation of the Brahms and thought he made several fine musical points on his own which further served to heighten my enjoyment of the work.  

Further raising Denk and Bell in this writer's estimation was that the piano had its lid fully raised.  Many soloists have the piano lid only on the short stick for fear the piano will drown them out.  In my opinion, any soloist who cannot be heard with a raised piano lid needs to consider another career.  

Jeremy Denk performed last spring with the Kansas City Symphony and it would be nice to hear a solo recital here someday.  Check out his website www.jeremydenk.net  He has many interesting things to say about various musical works and especially the two Brahms piano concertos.  
Following intermission, Bell returned for a solo work, Eugène Ysaÿe's Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 27.  Ysaÿe wrote six sonatas for solo violin and dedicated each one of them to a leading violinist of the day.  Any solo work for stringed instrument (like the Bach Violin Sonatas and Partitas, Paganini's Caprices, the Kodaly Solo Cello Sonata) takes guts to program on a recital.  The soloist is completely exposed with no accompanist to provide support. The Ysaÿe solo sonatas are highly virtuosic and rarely played because they are so intimidating.  Bell played No. 3 here in 1997 and that was the first time I had ever heard one of them played in public - and this recital was the second time.  The Violin Sonata No. 2, in four movements, begins with quotations from Bach and maybe a few other works I cannot place.  Then the rest of the movement and the other three movements are basically sets of variations on the famous Dies Irae theme. 

Dies Irae or "Days of Wrath", was used in the Catholic Requiem Mass and is thought to date back to the 13th century.  It was informative of Bell to demonstrate the Dies Iraetheme before he performed this work so that the audience could listen for it during the variations.  Other composers have used this theme in their works.  Just a few off the top of my head are Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, Liszt's Totentanz, Saint Saens' Danse Macabre, Rachmaninoff in his symphonies, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Isle of the Dead, Britten's War Requiem, and Sondheim's Sweeney Todd (in this writer's opinion, the greatest opera written in the last 50 years).

It's hard to tell which movement is more difficult because they run the gamut of virtuoso violin techniques.  Trying to keep track of the Dies Irae theme throughout, is a challenge made to the listener but Bell always kept it clear.  He showed immaculate technique and a real flair for this type of music.  I had been listening to the Ricci recording of this sonata and the other ones Ysaÿe wrote (from a CD available from the Johnson County Library).  Ricci was well known as one of the great technicians of the violin and his recording is excellent. Bell made it all look easy which is just what he is supposed to do.

The program ended with another one of my favorite violin sonatas, the Violin Sonata in A Minor by César Franck.  Composed as a wedding present for Ysaÿe, this is a beautiful work and certainly lighter and fluffier than the heavy, dense Brahms.  (Perhaps the dessert of the program?)  Just as in the Brahms, a great pianist is needed to really make this piece work, and both Bell and Denk collaborated perfectly in sync to make it really sing.  

All week I had wondered what Bell might choose for an encore.  Something with flash and dash, or something simple.  He chose the latter and a work that was a regular staple of violinist's encores a couple of generations back, the Meditation from Massenet's Thäis.  Bell played it with simple elegance and it was a lovely conclusion to a great recital.  

To sum it up, great artists, great program, great performances, great evening.  To coin a phrase, who could ask for anything more?  



REVIEW
Harriman-Jewell Series
Joshua Bell, violin with Jeremy Denk, piano
Saturday, January 10 at 8 p.m.
Folly Theatre
12th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
harriman-jewell.org

By Lee Goodman

Classical Contributor (Past writer)