Joshua Bell en Peter Dugan spelen Beethoven, Saint-Saëns en Bach

Joshua Bell and Peter Dugan

Violinist Joshua Bell once said of classical music: 'We tell the stories over and over again, but they are relevant and very personal stories.' And Bell always tells his personal story as well. Despite the many, many concerts on his schedule, you cannot catch him falling into a routine. Moreover, every venue inspires him. He is enthusiastic about the Kleine Zaal; it gives him the confidence to play even more subtly than he already did, because everything is audible there. The space gives him the freedom to extract everything there is to get out of a work. Tonight, he demonstrates this in music by Beethoven, Saint-Saëns, Bach, and the contemporary composer John Corigliano. Bell's accompanist is Peter Dugan; together they are called a dream team.

Beethoven, Saint-Saëns and Bach

Beethoven's Third Violin Sonata , Bach's Chaconne , and Saint-Saëns' Violin Sonata in D are regarded as icy peaks of the violin repertoire, which must be approached with deep respect. Yet composers sometimes took a sober view of their masterpieces. To complaints about the difficulty, Beethoven responded that the violinists simply needed to study harder. Saint-Saëns, who put his sonata on paper at lightning speed, felt that his music should above all sound good and give pleasure. Bach probably wrote his Chaconne without grand intentions. But Brahms said: "The Chaconne is to me one of the most wondrous, incomprehensible pieces of music." If he felt that way, we too may attribute divine qualities to this piece.