Violinist Joshua Bell opens Pacific Symphony’s ‘season of giants’
Pacific Symphony is billing its next go-round as the “season of giants.” And, if the press is any indicator, they don’t come much bigger than Joshua Bell.
The violinist, who will play at the symphony’s season opener Thursday, once inspired a critic to write that his playing “does nothing less than tell human beings why they bother to live.” The Los Angeles Times called him “a poster boy for his generation of classical musicians.” For good measure, People magazine has even included him on its annual Most Beautiful list.
Still, when Bell takes the stage at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, he’d rather challenge his abilities than fall back on beauty, gianthood or any other laurels.
The violinist, who serves as music director for the London-based Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, will perform the only violin concerto by Russian composer Alexander Glazunov, a student of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Bell, who considers the piece underplayed, has only performed it himself a few times over the years.
“It’s got some moments that are very daunting, but it’s very lyrical,” he said. “It has some beautiful tunes in it, but it has some passages that are scary for violinists. It’s got everything that really shows off the instrument well.”
That instrument, in Bell’s case, is a renowned one: a 1713 Stradivarius, which he discovered in London 13 years ago and has played consistently ever since. The instrument was once owned by the Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman and went missing for half a century after a theft in 1936; Bell purchased it several years after its recovery.
“Basically, that is my instrument, and I don’t switch between anything else,” he said.
Whatever accolades Bell may have racked up, he means one thing above all to Pacific Symphony music director Carl St.Clair: a beloved collaborator who has played with the orchestra four times before.
“We’re just very fortunate to have someone of his immense talents, and he’s also a friend and someone who’s been with the orchestra before, so everyone — not just me, but everyone, really — with great anticipation, looks forward to him coming,” St.Clair said. “All I know is that every time he leaves, we have a better orchestra and a better audience, because what he brings is such integrity to his performances that you’re really hearing the repertoire that he plays at maybe the highest level possible.”
If anyone comes away from the Pacific Symphony show with a Bell fetish, it’s a good time to have one. His album “Bach,” recorded with the St. Martin ensemble, is scheduled for release Sept. 30, and an HBO special, “Joshua Bell: A YoungArts MasterClass,” is set to air two weeks later.
In addition to Bell’s showcase, the Pacific Symphony program will feature John Williams’ “Sound the Bells!”, the West Coast premiere of Christopher Rouse’s “Supplica,” Richard Strauss’ “Dance of the Seven Veils” and Ravel’s Suite No. 2.
After the show’s run concludes Saturday night, the Sunday Casual Connections series will kick off for the season with “Afternoon with Joshua Bell,” a matinee performance of the Glazunov and Ravel works featuring commentary by Bell and St.Clair.
In crafting his 25th season with Pacific Symphony, St.Clair deliberately chose a broad theme, with “giants” encompassing anyone, from composers to soloists to collaborators, who has played a significant role in the orchestra’s history.
Later programs in the 2014-15 season include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, the first piece St.Clair conducted in his current post; a tribute to St.Clair’s mentor, Leonard Bernstein; collaborations with Pacific Chorale and composer Frank Ticheli, and much more.
“There’s not a single work, or person singing those works or performing those works, who doesn’t have some sort of special meaning,” St.Clair said.
If You Go
What: Pacific Symphony with Joshua Bell
Where: Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; “Afternoon with Joshua Bell” at 3 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $25 to $99; $25 to $85 for Sunday program
Information: (714) 755-5799 or https://www.pacificsymphony.org