Photo: Joshua Bell, AKA Hottest Man Alive (photo by Bill Phelps)
I adore Joshua Bell. He's been a favorite of mine since I stumbled on his elegant and evocative Kreisler Album in the public library many, many years ago. He's one of the Pillars of my Classical Music world, along with Itzhak Perlman and Anne Sophie Mutter.
A little while ago, he played incognito in a Washington DC Metro station. Most people didn't recognize him. Most people didn't even stop to listen as he played. Here's the link.
There's a video, too. I encourage you all to read it. I may have posted on this before, but I don't think I did...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
Consider the situation: you're on your way to work, you're in the bustling Metro station. Out of nowhere, divine music fills the air. Do you stop? Weingarten, author of the article, asks us: Each passerby had a quick choice to make, one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional street performer is part of the cityscape: Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite? Does your decision change if he's really bad? What if he's really good? Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn't you? What's the moral mathematics of the moment?
I saw Joshua Bell last night, in concert, playing Corigliani's Red Violin Concerto. While I would have much rather heard him play the Bruch g minor or the Tchaikovsky or, hey, the Bach partitas (of which the article speaks of--I've never heard Bell play Bach officially, now that I think of it), it was beautiful. (J the fangirl says: I TOUCHED him!! HE SHOOK MY HAND!!! SQUEEEEEE!!!!) I was surprised to hear that the Red Violin Concerto was actually not written for Joshua Bell--it was him that played on the movie soundtrack, and him that made the first commercial recordings of it. But this Concerto is as much a vehicle for Bell's virtuosity than any other concerto's ever been for a master. And I wonder, faced with that lyricism, how so many people could have just passed on by. Ridiculous, isn't it? Granted, the newspaper chose a time and place where people would have been in a hurry--right before 8am in a commuter station? The situation would have been entirely different had it been somewhere where people were more leisurely, or even on their way home rather than on their way to work.
Last April I came across another violinist in the subway--an Asian man, playing songs out of the Suzuki Violin School book 4. He was nowhere NEAR as good as Joshua Bell, but I DID stop. Heck, I stopped, cried, and took a video. I'll always try to stop, after this. I like to believe that even if I didn't know who it was, I'd stop. I think I know with substantial certainty that I'd stop. And now that I know what Joshua Bell looks like in person, I think I'd take the opportunity to pounce on him if he ever decided to try this stunt again.
7 comments:
It's enough to make me wish I still took the Metro and worked and early shift.
Now tell me, how old is this gentleman, would you say? I'm just curious.
There are a lot of excellent musicians in the NYC subway and many oif them, though not Bell caliber, also play at concert halls. The 'Saw Lady' who played at Carnegie Hall and with lots of orchestras keeps a blog where she tells what happens when she plays in the subway. There is a lot of info/photos of many subway musicians. You might find it interesting: www.SawLady.com/blog
Michelle
How cool is THAT ?
Did you swoon ?
OK, I admit: When being in Paris (where you come across many musicians on your way through the city's intenstines,and where I should go more often) I don't stop. Promise to you: Next time I will. Once.
I'm not at all surprised that people in DC didn't stop. I once saw a guy on the Metro shove a pregnant lady out of the way so he could take a seat she was headed for. No kidding. Living in the imperial capital turns a lot of people into savages--present company excepted, of course ;-)
Anyway--Joshua Bell. Squee! is right. And Anne Sophie--squee! again. Itzhak is beyond squee.
As for street musicians, I sometimes stop, sometimes don't. I give money more often than I stop to listen, to tell you the truth. Dave never played on the street, but a lot of his friends have. For a lot of them, it's just a way of practicing, with the added bonus of a little much-needed money.
WHOA! Commentage!!!
Renee--he's 40...but a very *young*-looking 40, wouldn't you say? And when he smiles he looks no older than a picture taken when he was 20ish...ahem.
Michelle--I've no doubt there are excellent musicians in the NYC subway! I heard quite a few that were really awesome. I DID find the Saw Lady interesting--I'd never heard of her before your comment. Thanks!
Chaya--of course! Massive swoonage! When I came up to the table I think I just stared for 10 seconds before handing over the CD for signing, and then stuttering out something to the effect of "Mr. Bell is da awesomest"--ok, not QUITE that, but you get the point.
Andy! Hi hi! I remember the street musicians in Paris as well, although I only came across a few very briefly (I've been to Paris three times, two of those three, alas, were on bus tours with the parents).
Maria--It's not so much that one *should* stop every time, I think, so much allowing one's self the opportunity to be moved. But oy--shoving a pregnant woman? yipes!
The best thing I ever saw in a subway was in New York. A violinist was playing, and two drunks happened to converge, walking toward each other, and spontaneously did a minuet to the violin music, complete with holding each other's fingertips and bowing to each other at the end -- and then walked on. At which point my friend turned to me and said in a very silly voice, "Coming soon to a liquor store near you!" It was perfect whimsy.
That man is not 40 years old! If he is, he's a supernatural creature.
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