With almost four decades of career behind him, the violinist and conductor Joshua Bell, who for a decade has also been the head of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in London, continues to perform on stages that are far from the big international venues. The four-time Grammy winner is touring Catalonia this weekend with the Franz Schubert Filharmonia (FSF), enjoying gastronomy while stopping at stages in Sant Cugat, Vila-seca and Lleida, before ending on Tuesday 21 at the Palau de la Música Catalana.
An American from Indiana, Bell is, at 55, one of the world’s most appreciated classical artists. Even more so since 15 years ago he offered to pose as a street musician in a Washington D.C. subway stop, without the busy passers-by realizing that whoever was playing the first movement of the Bach Violin Concerto was a true virtuoso, famous in the main auditoriums of the planet.
The FSF, the Tarragona orchestra made up of musicians mostly from the Catalan territory directed by Tomàs Grau, these days has the privilege of interacting with him in all its facets: in Beethoven’s Coriolà Overture with which the program opens, Bell joins to the ensemble with his violin, to later be the soloist in Mendelssohn’s Concerto and, finally, to take up the baton in Beethoven’s very dancing 7th Symphony. The artist converses briefly with this dario between rehearsals.
The rings do not fall performing in audiences that are not part of the international front line.
Music can be made anywhere. It’s beautiful to play at Carnegie Hall in New York or at the Musikverein in Vienna, but it’s not the only way to enjoy music. I love to give concerts at my house in New York, where I invite people, we organize charity events… things like that. And I won’t talk about the day I played in the subway, because that already bores me, but I’m open to playing anywhere: it’s fantastic to do it outdoors in Roman amphitheatres, in Greek theaters… At this time in my career, I love playing in new places, discover new cities and new orchestras, like this FSF, which is very special. They are very young people with great energy and who want to make music and get the best results. That is the atmosphere I have encountered here. And it’s great to spend the weekend with them, sitting with the orchestra at the Overture, then solo at the Mendelssohn and finally leaving my violin in the dressing room to conduct Beethoven’s 7th. I prefer that to doing my concert in the traditional way and then going to eat paella. And that I love paella…
This is not the case with his tour of Catalonia, but for someone who as a conductor has already dealt with so much repertoire over these twelve years at the helm of St Martin in the Fields, how difficult is it to step back and assume only the solo role?
I never get bored making music, especially good music. Of course it’s more interesting to be in charge of conducting too, because you can organize rehearsals in great detail, but don’t get me wrong, I love playing with good conductors. Tomàs Grau has been a great support, he takes care of me at all times, he takes me to eat and we talk about music, and next time I’d like to play with him, but at this time in my career I’m interested in being at the checkpoint .
In the last decade a large part of the repertoire will have passed through his hands without a director. What remains for him to do within his own aspirations?
A lot of repertoire, for which I won’t have enough time. I have conducted eight of Beethoven’s nine symphonies but I still have a lot to do. And also chamber music: next year I will record a project by Gabriel Fauré and I have new commissions from five American composers. We call it All Elements, which is five, and I’ve asked you to address one each.
It took Mendelssohn six years to compose his Violin Concerto. What do you think?
It’s not that he needed a lot of time to compose, because he was like Mozart, he could have done it in a day, he was one of the great geniuses of all time. But he took special care with this piece, he wanted it to be perfect. That is why it is nicknamed the Perfect Violin Concerto, because everything is in balance, the structure, each musical element… I have been playing this piece since I was 12 years old and I still find it interesting. Now I play and conduct it at the same time, and I’ve also written my own Candenza. I think I’m the only one who has done it, because Mendelssohn already included his own, but you can see that I’m a bit irreverent and I substitute it… because I love doing it myself and because it is an element of surprise for the public who knows it well. the piece. I don’t know, maybe I have a big ego…
They say you are too expensive to bring with St. Martin in the Fields. The next visit of the British orchestra to Spain will be without you, with a woman at the helm.
I don’t talk about money, I don’t even see it, I don’t know if I do it or not. Let the bills be paid and that’s it. At the moment, I am spending this weekend with the FSF which is a magnificent treasure. For this part of the country to have training like this, which is different from the traditional ones, which is well organized and supported… that is something very necessary, especially after the pandemic.
Do you find the experience in the American classic scene different from the European one?
All the orchestras are already a mixture of people from many places, they are very international. This past weekend I was in Bulgaria, then I went to Paris, now I’m here in Catalonia… they all have a different audience, with different feelings. When I think about the differences I think more about food, and I think that Spain is one of the best places for gastronomy, by the way. But what was going on: in the classic we all feel international. Tonight, for example, we make German music with Catalan musicians, and we feel it is ours. The beautiful thing is that, and I know it sounds cliché, that music goes beyond international borders. And that is something that we all need right now. In the United States there is a great political debate, and this music, good music, is what all political parties would agree on. Don’t make me sound deep please, but I do believe that music is very important in society and for children. One of my passions is for all children to listen to music. In the United States they are cutting budgets in schools, and music and art are the first to disappear. People don’t see the need, and yet it’s the most important thing you can teach the little ones.
