Current time nears for a very special musical event
February 10, 2008
by Peter Jacobi
The fortunate ones, the 1,500 or so folks who managed to snare tickets during a two-hour distribution hullabaloo at the Musical Arts Center several weeks ago, will get an opportunity this afternoon to hear the musicians they’ve yearned for.
The main draw was the violinist, one Joshua Bell of Bloomington origin and international fame. Word of the occasional Bell appearance in his hometown always brings swift and wide-scaled reaction. But on this occasion, those attracted by their own Josh get a bonus: his frequent and distinguished concert partner, the pianist Jeremy Denk, who has significant local ties as well, having studied at IU’s Jacobs School of Music and then, for a while, served as member of its faculty.
Theirs will be a duo recital, and those familiar only with Josh, the violinist, will likely end up also raving about the skills of Jeremy, the pianist. Both gentlemen express delight at making a stop here during their current tour, one that has already taken them to South Bend and St. Paul, Minn., and which — after Bloomington — takes in Milwaukee, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Germantown, Tenn., Chicago, Edmonton in Canada, three California stops (Costa Mesa, Berkeley, Palm Desert), Washington, D.C., and several more cities, before ending on March 9.
That means their stay will be brief. Unfortunately, just a couple of days, says Josh Bell, but come fall, he’ll carve more time when he joins the Jacobs faculty as senior lecturer. He’s planned for a pair of weeklong residencies to start the relationship, periods during which he’ll coach ensembles, work with students individually and in groups and lead performances.
For now, though, it’s this afternoon’s concert.
“Jeremy and I really look forward to performing at the MAC,” he says. “I have so many profound memories of my time spent at IU; so whenever I step on stage in Bloomington, it is a special experience for me. It’s a joy to be surrounded by old friends and family, and there is no better audience in the world than that in Bloomington.”
Denk echoes the sentiments.
“I spent so much of my life in Bloomington,” he explains. “It’s an intense connection. I’m always reminded of my most important mentor, the wonderful Gyorgy Sebok, who did so much for me. I miss him and others who had a great influence, like Leonard Hokanson and Franco Gulli. I was part of an era in the school for which I hold a lot of nostalgia. And it’s always nice to be back.”
Told how ravenously folks snapped up tickets for the concert, Bell expresses thanks.
“How nice to be appreciated by the people in my hometown,” he says. “I apologize to anyone who waited in line and came away empty-handed. I must say, though, it is extremely gratifying as a performer to play for a packed house.”
For those turned away, no promises for admittance can be made. But if there are no-shows, their seats will be made available to others on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition, large plasma TVs have been set up in the MAC lobby to permit viewing and listening for an overflow crowd.
The program offers variety and has been selected to exhibit the performers’ technical and interpretative strengths: the Tartini “Devil’s Trill” Sonata; Prokofiev’s haunting F Minor Sonata, Opus 80; Dvorak’s lyrical Four Romantic Pieces, and the dramatic and demanding Saint-Saens D Minor sonata, Opus 75.
The two musicians began to team after sharing the stage during a 2004 gala at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C.
“We played one piece . and that was that,” says Denk. “We’ve been touring a month out of the year ever since. A chemistry has developed between us. In rehearsals, we do a lot of playing and listening, very little talking and arguing. Somehow, we know where we’re heading.”
And when public performance time comes, he adds, “Things keep changing. Performances change in an interesting way. It’s as if we’re learning on stage, while we play. Things occur on the spur of the moment for each of us. So, every concert is different. Every piece we play and each time we play it is different. We enjoy that spontaneity, even after we’ve done 18 or 20 concerts on tour. It’s very satisfying.”
Bell speaks of Denk as a collaborator who “feels right” because he can “sort of guess” where the pianist is going “and read his mind a little bit. I think we share certain basic values of how we think about music. Maybe that’s because we both went to IU.”
Denk expresses marvel over his partner’s ability to handle “an unbelievably heavy schedule. Take just all the travel, the flights, the keeping yourself together. Josh has an incredible energy. I love being with him, but a month or so of touring at his pace is more than enough for me. We do meet up occasionally at other times of the year, but for the most, we then go our own ways.”
Those ways have put each artist on lofty levels. Bell’s accomplishments have earned him three Grammy Awards, Germany’s Echo Klassik, the esteemed Avery Fisher Prize, the fame that comes from best-selling records and frequent television exposure and playing a couple of Oscar-winning film scores, and critical accolades literally from around the planet. Denk has built a portfolio of credits with the nation’s most important orchestras, these including Philadelphia, St. Louis, Houston, San Francisco, and Atlanta. He’s also been the preferred soloist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which made a lauded stop at the IU Auditorium in December 2006.
Now, for the first time together in Bloomington, on this very day, it’s violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Jeremy Denk in concert, an event all so many of us have been waiting for. Curtain time nears.
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music would like
to thank the Herald Times for permission to republish this review.
