ISO brings back two long-ago collaborators to the annual Gala Concert

Joshua Bell's history with "my hometown orchestra" goes back to when he had his first professional solo

With Bruch as vehicle, Bell and Nelson re-establish their old rapport. 

gig at 14 with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra at Conner Prairie. As seen Saturday evening for the ISO's Opening Night Gala from Hilbert Circle Theatre's dress circle, the world-famous violinist looked not hugely  older. The Bloomington native will in fact turn 56 in December. 

Apparently having sipped from some unimaginable Fountain of Youth, he strode onstage to join former music director John Nelson for a performance of Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. His playing had that silky smooth command, with gently arched phrasing and judiciously applied vigor, that I first became acquainted with during the orchestra's German tour in the fall of 1987. Nelson was just starting his last season as the ISO's fourth music director. Far from internationally known, Bell's first name was spelled "Yoshua" on posters I saw promoting his German engagements.

So Saturday's concert had aspects of a sentimental reunion, with the extra family boost of Bell's performing a Mendelssohn rarity to cap the concert along with his wife, soprano Larisa Martinez. The violinist's children from before his 2019 union with Martinez were present, as was his 88-year-old mother, Shirley Bell, the audience learned from the violinist's charming onstage remarks.

Joshua Bell at about the age he first worked with John Nelson 

The hall was virtually full, treated right off the bat to a better-known Mendelssohn piece, Symphony No. 4 in A major ("Italian"). Conducting from a chair on the podium, which he never left until the 75-minute concert was over, Nelson showed indications, in his speech as well, of the stroke he's recently suffered. He was effusive in his gratitude for Sunday' s occasion, informing the audience that the Gala was his first conducting in nine months. 

Nelson also justifiably mentioned  that "the orchestra is sounding better than ever," and he gestured unmistakably for an increase in the ovation following the "Italian". The solid, full-throated ensemble sound took shape in the Allegro vivace movement, and later there were many indications of the newly well-blended sound of the winds. 

The concluding Saltarello: Presto, whose music has invited conductors to go hell-bent for leather, unfolded at a sensible pace. No sacrifice of group cohesiveness had to be made. The orchestra now can manage swift action debonairly without a hair out of place, despite the rare wonder of its not having had a music director for a few seasons. 

Though the text projected on the screen above the stage was barely legible, the Cavatina and Cabaletta from the Scena "Infelice...Ah, ritorna eta dell'oro" trembled nostalgically and soared as required. The operatic link comes through the choice of text from the eminent librettist Metastasio and the formal division of this showcase for soprano and, originally, a concert violinist who was the diva's lover. 

Joshua Bell and Larisa Martinez perform Mendelssohn.

The obscure choice, with its appropriate flamboyance as a concert finale, made a nice vehicle for today's husband-and-wife guest artists. Martinez displayed a firm, radiant tone, especially up high, with a plushness that suited the expressive richness of her interpretation. 

"In nature is there no joy not eclipsed by torment," the text wonders repeatedly in a passage I could make out on the screen. In this performance, fortunately, torment kept its distance. Joy was the watchword as the ISO's 2023-24 season got under way. That was underlined by the couple's encore performance, with light orchestral accompaniment, of a newly commissioned arrangement by Jim Stephenson of Schubert's much-loved "Serenade."

[Color photos of September 23 Gala Concert by Brian Spurlock/ISO]