Andrew Johnstone reviews Bell, Denk in the National Concert Hall, Dublin.
Schubert - Sonata in A D574. Rondo Brillante D895. Sonata in G minor D408. Fantasy D934.
Joshua Bell's all-Schubert evening showed him to be more than just a popular, highly decorated super-violinist of the mainstream concerto world. In two four-movement sonatas and two rhapsodic works of well nigh epic proportions, both he and pianist Jeremy Denk proved themselves musicianly explorers of seldom-heard repertory.
The sonatas, charming yet constrained of phrase and form, came across as little more than curiosities. As you'd expect from the father of all song composers, they're replete with amiable melodies and gently chugging accompaniments.
But Schubert soared to higher planes of invention in the Rondo Brillante and Fantasy. With distinctive moods, strange caesuras, quirky modulations, and ambitious developments and variations, these scintillatingly virtuosic duos fully lived up to their titles.
His head swept back, his eyes closed, Bell appeared transported by the music to a state of ecstatic trance. From the ankles up, he physically empathised with the ups and downs of every phrase, sleight of hand ensuring that his bow was weightlessly and instantly in the right place.
There was nothing distracting in these gymnastics, for they seemed essential to his expressive poise. Intonation-wise, the opening sonata caught Bell off guard, and though things stabilised, hints of sharpness occasionally recurred.
Yet there were few detractions from a tone production that was tasteful, even and aristocratic - especially in some pizzicatos of rare pliancy.
Just as Bell was sparing with vibrato, so Denk was sparing with the pedal, obtaining crisp reiterations, glowing cantabiles, and pianissimos softer than you'd think possible from a grand with the lid wide open. In the hands of both artists, each passage, arabesque, trill and tremolando became a textured whole - a fusion of the bare notes that belongs only to the most involved and integrated of performances.
