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Went to Ravinia last night to see Joshua Bell and the Indiana University ::pause for a deep breath:: Jacobs School of Music Summer Festival Orchestra. The orchestra, a mix of students and faculty, opened the concert with "Sorcerer's Apprentice," then followed Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Ives’s Variations on America. I felt they did really well, and sounded great.
Then Bell took the stage. It's the 3rd time I've seen him at Ravinia, and they do love him there. He's very good. He played Bruch's Scottish Fantasy; it was the Ravinia premiere for piece, and he played the hell out of it. As usual, he received a standing ovation, and came out for a number of curtain calls.
Now while Bell has taken curtain calls at very performance I've attended, he has never played an encore. But he received his artist diploma from Indiana University, and hugged the conductor and a couple of the older musicians as though they were old, dear friends. So after coming back out on stage a few times and taking bows, he returned with his fiddle and started playing...something.
Then I started cursing under my breath because I'm no expert by any stretch and I didn't recognize the piece. "Hey, Bell returned for an encore and played...something." Then he got a few bars into the thing and a soft round of chuckles waved through the audience. Call it "Variations on Yankee Doodle Dandy." By the time Bell got through the plucking part, then played notes so high only bats could hear them...another standing O. More curtain calls. A couple minutes passed, and some folks started gathering their things and leaving while most of us gamely clapped on.
(Here's a You Tube video of Bell playing the piece at a class.
http://youtu.be/1WMa0J1oU_E
And here's a clip of Bell playing the piece in concert in Sao Paulo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8CfmfjXreE&feature=related )
And hey, Bell and the conductor, Michael Stern, returned, and there followed "Stars and Stripes Forever," the audience clapping in time. Bell played in ensemble with the rest of the orchestra, and it was fun and rousing and we applauded like mad until Bell left for good and the lights came up and the orchestra started gathering their gear.
I know encores are usually planned. Actually, I think Stern gave the game away at the start of the concert. The orchestra opened with "Star-Spangled Banner," and as he addressed the audience a few minutes later, Stern referred to it as "Stars and Stripes Forever." So yeah, the encores were likely planned. Couldn't perform pieces like those off the cuff. It was still great.
Then Bell took the stage. It's the 3rd time I've seen him at Ravinia, and they do love him there. He's very good. He played Bruch's Scottish Fantasy; it was the Ravinia premiere for piece, and he played the hell out of it. As usual, he received a standing ovation, and came out for a number of curtain calls.
Now while Bell has taken curtain calls at very performance I've attended, he has never played an encore. But he received his artist diploma from Indiana University, and hugged the conductor and a couple of the older musicians as though they were old, dear friends. So after coming back out on stage a few times and taking bows, he returned with his fiddle and started playing...something.
Then I started cursing under my breath because I'm no expert by any stretch and I didn't recognize the piece. "Hey, Bell returned for an encore and played...something." Then he got a few bars into the thing and a soft round of chuckles waved through the audience. Call it "Variations on Yankee Doodle Dandy." By the time Bell got through the plucking part, then played notes so high only bats could hear them...another standing O. More curtain calls. A couple minutes passed, and some folks started gathering their things and leaving while most of us gamely clapped on.
(Here's a You Tube video of Bell playing the piece at a class.
http://youtu.be/1WMa0J1oU_E
And here's a clip of Bell playing the piece in concert in Sao Paulo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8CfmfjXreE&feature=related )
And hey, Bell and the conductor, Michael Stern, returned, and there followed "Stars and Stripes Forever," the audience clapping in time. Bell played in ensemble with the rest of the orchestra, and it was fun and rousing and we applauded like mad until Bell left for good and the lights came up and the orchestra started gathering their gear.
I know encores are usually planned. Actually, I think Stern gave the game away at the start of the concert. The orchestra opened with "Star-Spangled Banner," and as he addressed the audience a few minutes later, Stern referred to it as "Stars and Stripes Forever." So yeah, the encores were likely planned. Couldn't perform pieces like those off the cuff. It was still great.
