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April 16, 2010
A violin virtuoso visits
Israel’s Itzhak Perlman will play with the VSO.
DANA SCHLANGER
The stage manager nudges gently but firmly: “Itzhak, we’re really ready to start the concert.” This is a well-known and beloved scenario at the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO): Perlman and Zubin Mehta sharing a fun, bon vivant discussion of food and wines in the wings before going on stage, and there’s no stopping them. There’s only a select few who need to be at the stage entrance for the start, but many people flock to the narrow space by the Mann Auditorium stage just to be around Perlman and enjoy his humor. When I worked with the IPO, we called almost everybody
“Maestro” – but Itzhak is always just that, Itzhak. Everybody knows you mean Perlman. Despite living in the United States since age 13, the Tel Aviv-born Itzhak never fully morphed into “Isaac.”
On stage, Perlman and Mehta, two superstars, let go of the brief moment when they’re just two old friends and do their job – Mehta picks up Perlman’s violin (the antique Soil Stradivarius violin of 1714, formerly owned by Yehudi Menuhin and considered to be one of the finest violins made during Antonio Stradivari’s golden period) and carries it to the podium, while Perlman makes his way to his seat on stage. Having lost the use of his legs after contracting polio at the age of four, Perlman always sits as he plays – but he never fails to bring audiences to their feet.
Nowadays, Perlman wheels his way on stage using an electric scooter. It’s symbolic of the many things that have changed for the musician who has taken hold of public imagination as few violinists ever have, bringing joy to millions with his playing, holding a “populist,” yet still very aristocratic, spot on the classical music charts, having the time of his life foraying into klezmer and jazz, or melting hearts with the warm and rich sound he coaxes from his violin.
Perlman is now a conductor and a sought-after teacher. “I’m now doing three things,” he told Strings magazine, “concerts, conducting and teaching, and they each support each other. I learn to see things from different perspectives and listen with different ears. The most important thing that you need to do is really listen.”
Perlman made his professional conducting debut after coaching the youth players in his wife’s summer music program for talented pre-college string players, the Perlman Music Program.
“I needed to prove to myself I could do this with a professional orchestra,” he said in an interview. “The Israel Philharmonic has always been like family to me. If I was going to fall flat on my face, better do it with a group that knows me.” He has since gained the respect and admiration of many a major orchestra in the world, who frequently invite him back to conduct.
But his connection to the Israel Philharmonic is unbreakable: as the “family” violinist, Perlman has always been there, for every IPO milestone and groundbreaking tour. In 1987, he joined them for history-making concerts in Warsaw and Budapest, the first performances by this orchestra and soloist in Eastern Bloc countries. He again made history on the orchestra’s first visit to the Soviet Union in 1990. As the world gradually opened towards Israel, he joined the IPO in 1994 for their first visits to China and India.
Everywhere in the world, the audience response to a Perlman performance is rapturous. Veteran critic Andrew Porter, writing in the New Yorker magazine, articulated those feelings when he described the experience as “everything one wants a violin sound to be.” Perlman’s tone is dipped in honey, the very definition of what is now known as the Russian-Israeli school of
violin, whose powerful influence on North American music-making cannot be overestimated; from the peaks of classical repertoire to the little “trifles” he loves to explore, with his trademark sweet tone and melting vibrato. Perlman ensures his legacy by teaching, encouraging young talent and devoting time to music education, both in the Perlman Music Program and at the famous Juilliard School in New York. “I’m not playing less, just teaching more,” he has said.
Perlman will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on Monday, April 26, at the Orpheum.
Dana Schlanger is a freelance writer and director of the Dena Wosk School of Performing Arts.
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