Violinist Joshua Bell is one of those international stars who re-earns his reputation with every one of his concerts — like the first of three with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall on Wednesday night.
The regular American visitor dazzled with his lighting bow and committed artistry last night, even in the shortest piece on the programme: Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane, a violinist’ star vehicle if there ever was one.
Steeped in Roma fiddling traditions, this 1924 dazzler starts with a good, long stretch for solo violin that pretty much makes the closing section with orchestra irrelevant. But music director Peter Oundjian and the other musicians on stage stepped gamely in, providing fine accompaniment throughout all the treacherous changes of tempo.
Oundjian and his orchestra were brilliant from the opening notes of the evening, Aaron Copland’s magical suite from the ballet Appalachian Spring. There’s a transparent simplicity to most of this piece that the conductor shaped very elegantly.
It also gave several principal players opportunities to show off their fine playing.
Acting as a bookend was another 20th century masterpiece in programmatic orchestral music: Ottorio Respighi’s Pines of Rome — also from 1924. Respighi was a skilled contrapuntalist, and the structure of his four-panel musical postcard is a marvel of musical engineering.
But what matters most is that it’s pretty to listen to — especially when played with as much finesse as we heard on Wednesday.
Which brings us to the programme’s problem piece: a one-year-old Concerto for Violin and Double Bass by bass player Edgar Meyer, in its Canadian premiere.
Meyer is as comfortable on his instrument as Bell is on his, and plays with equal commitment. He has also written a lot of rhythmically intricate, technically challenging duo work for himself and Bell in all three movements.
Both artists played together effectively. So it’s too bad that the concerto many parts don’t come together as a satisfying whole.
It has many lyrical moments and is easy to listen to. But not even the string-duo fireworks can mask the fact that this piece is a clunky, harmonically dull affair that alternates with unflinching regularity between unaccompanied and accompanied dialogue for the two soloists.
Having the Concerto on a programme rich in Copland and Respighi’s superlative compositional handiwork probably made the comparison even less favourable.
But the other music in this programme is so beautiful — and so beautifully played — that it’s well worth seeking out one of the two remaining concerts this week. Details here.
John Terauds