Joshua Bell Conducts the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Orchestra, at Vero Beach Community Church

Joshua Bell Played Multiple Roles Simultaneously

In an amazing performance of his musicality and dexterity in moving between orchestral roles, Joshua Bell led the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Orchestra at a grand performance on March 19, 2024 at the Vero Beach Community Church. But Bell was not only the conductor of the Orchestra but also the soloist. I have seen many conductors perform as soloists while also conducting, and Andre Previn and Leonard Bernstein have both taken on multiple roles. But I have never seen the First Violinist also conduct the Orchestra, but Bell did both, simultaneously with aplomb and spirit. Pianist soloists conductors usually use head nods to lead the orchestra, but Bell used his violin bow as an extended baton to lead the orchestra while playing, and he added body movements, including rising up from his soloist chair, to challenge and bend the orchestra’s performance.

As Bell waved his bow to bring out the tempo and cadence of the orchestra, he would gracefully but quickly return to the soloist role with his bow now being used for normal violin purposes. I tended to watch the violinist in back of Bell as when she started to play, Bell transitioned from conductor to soloist with his bow quickly being used for its normal purpose. But just as quickly as the bow returned to the violin, a few moments or bars later, Bell resumed his conductor role as the bow again came off the violin to again lead this august orchestra in spectacular transitions from soloist to conductor and back again.

The Vero Beach Community Church is well suited to orchestral performances as the audience seats-pews curve around the stage allowing many seats to be close to the musicians instead of the rectangular hall with some of the audience far back from the musicians. The church also has good acoustics coming from the tall vertical panels on the walls and window areas reducing reverberation and providing for a clean sound.

The program started with Bell as conductor and First Violin playing the Overture from the Barber of Seville, Il barbiere di Siviglia, by Gioachino Rossini. The playing was both exuberant and lyrical. Bell lead the Academy in a forceful presentation of the Overture to one of Rossini’s most recognized operas. The musicians responded with vigor as Bell raised his bow and waved it to elicit his desired tones and cadence, and the musicians followed in perfect form. The lyrical music delighted the audience.

Next came Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor which Bell and the Academy recorded in 2018 for Sony Records. The piece starts with rumbling of the timpani followed by the orchestra and soloist “trading melancholy phrases.” Bell is now serving as the Violin soloist and conductor. It then picks up speed and notes go up and down the scales, but after the lyrical start a powerful and moving crescendo follows. The First Movement, called the Prelude, leads to the magnificent Adagio which has at least three themes. The tunes “intertwine with artful dramatic pacing and culminate in a passionate climax.” The Finale is fast paced “gypsy-like music” with an invitation to dance and fireworks from soloist Bell. His bow is rapidly conducting and then playing in its own rhythm. As the piece comes to an end, the audience leaps to their feet in tribute to the melodic tones and the force and power of the intermingled themes.

We have previously seen Bell in the soloist role at Tanglewood, and also playing a duo with Jeremy Denk at a performance in St. Petersburg, Russia (before the Ukrainian invasion), but I think Bell’s performance here outshone those others.

After intermission we were delighted to Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 2 in D Major. Brahms scored this piece in the Austrian Alps during a long summer holiday in 1877. The piece starts with the horns and is followed by the strings, each with their own theme. Then there are several variations in the main theme. The second movement’s theme is traced in the cellos and is then mirrored in the high strings. The woodwinds open the third movement followed by the strings in a scherzo-like dash. The fourth movement has the strings do a fast moving retake of the theme from the first. The “orchestra spreads its sonic wings once again over the Alpine expanse, and the closing finale has the entire orchestra expressing their joy as Bell’s bow brings them to an energetic climax with the conductor-First Violinist egging them on with body movements and laughs and joy.

A truly outstanding performance by the ever boyish Joshua Bell and the Academy.