LA Phil: Mendelsohn with Joshua Bell, Schubert's 9th

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto No. 1 in e minor (Joshua Bell, violin); Schubert: Symphony No. 9
Walt Disney Concert Hall - Thursday, October 19, 2006, 8pm

This was an evening for the string instruments to show their different moods, with two very different uses of the collective instruments. First, there was the bright, sweet sound of the solo violin - and in Joshua Bell's hands, the noise caused swoons - and then, there was the sound of a big room of them pounding it out together. A very interesting contrast of noises.

Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto is melodramatic in the best possible way. It starts out in a minor key, reading like a big long cry; then there's a gorgeous, refreshing slow movement - the plaintive calm after the weep; then the concerto finishes off with a jaunty romp - the rebound into happiness, if you will. All my interpretation anyway. The music is fantastically fun to listen to, very tuneful and lush. And the violin part offers a chance for a skilled violinist to emote and show off his or her musicality.

Joshua Bell played it fantastically tonight. His playing has a creamy tone, lush phrasing, and his phrasing sings. Big swoon. And in the acoustic environment of Disney Hall, the violin comes across with crystal clarity, making it all the more thrilling.

Schubert's Symphony No. 9 is very, very big sounding, even if the orchestra used is not physically as large as some of the pieces we've heard from the LA Phil in the last few weeks (for Mahler's 3, they all crowded on stage and virtually every instrument imaginable was on hand). For the 9th, there is the standard set of winds, and the timpani, but then there is also the fullest possible complement of string instruments. What probably makes it sound so big is all those strings - from the highest violins to the deepest double bass - and the way it's used in the orchestrations. Schubert here was fond of big, dramatic chords, played in repitition three or four times in a phrase. BUM BUM BUM BUM sounding.

The thing that's great about the 9th though is that it keeps building. The heavy sound is used one way in the first movement to establish a thesis. By the fourth movement, elements of that sound are broken apart, reassembled, then played faster and faster until it culminates in a mad rush of melodic noise. It's all quite fun to hear.

And certainly, it was all much more fun to experience than a dead weight Romeo & Juliet. I'm glad I cleared my schedule for it.