Bell plays masterful but unfulfilling performance

Striding onto Finney Chapel's stage on Tuesday, Joshua Bell and his pianist accompanist Simon Mulligan could have easily been Oberlin students. Bell's boyish face and Mulligan's long hair wouldn't merit a second look from anybody walking around campus. Mulligan, 25 and Bell, 30, received the large crowd's applause gracefully and launched into their program with Mozart's Sonata K.304.

Bell's tone is lyrical and he has a lovely vibrato, which made for beautiful lines in the Allegro movement. His interpretation was very dramatic, often dying away to the edge of audibility and coming back in suddenly. Bell has a tendency to gyrate his body wildly during even the simplest passages, which made the performance distracting at times, but his playing was delicate and well balanced. The Minuet was gentle and tasteful, allowing Mozart's music to speak for its own perfection. The two performers gave a nice shape and feeling to the sonata with phrasing that was undeniably Mozartian without denying the Baroque tendencies of the themes.

Sweeping into the Franck's Sonata in A Major, Bell's playing became sexy and sleek in the first theme of the Allegretto. Despite some rough shifts and slides, Bell's interpretive ability kept the audience interested. The Allegro was dynamic with a breathless feel, often moving briskly through the end of a line as if there were not enough time to play it all. The somber middle section with its aching pauses and non-vibrato effects was well executed and set up an exciting return to the first theme.

The Recitative seemed a bit slow, although the sections alternating passion and meditation were in themselves enjoyable. The Allegretto Poco Mosso was the first time in the recital in which Bell's palette of tones might have benefitted with more of the deep and dark shades. He played very nicely on the surface of the string, but never really produced the constant growth in intensity that this movement requires. Consequently, the ending was a bit of a let-down after such a nice first half. The audience, nonetheless, applauded enthusiastically.

Taking the stage again to play Brahms' Sonata no.1, Bell's Stradivarius again lacked the meaty tone to back up what was, judging from his hip movements, a passionate performance. His bowing also seemed somewhat choppier than it had been in the Mozart. Nonetheless, Bell proved his mastery over the audience, capitalizing on the rhapsodic parts of the Vivace to tug on the heart strings as only the best performers know how.

During the Adagio, he seemed to find some extra reserves and put some bottom into the sound at crucial points. The violinist and pianist played the tricky Allegro Molto Moderato soundly, negotiating irregular rhythms and trading the lead back and forth clearly. Overall, Bell did a great job of articulating the form, but the piece could have used more conviction and a touch of chutzpah as well.

Coming back to the stage, Bell smiled for the first time.Throwing himself into the first of the preludes, the violinist roused the audience with energetic pizzicato and compelling tempo. It ended as suddenly as it started, and a murmur went up from the crowd as if to comment on the new energy level. The second piece, unfortunately required more jazz than Bell delivered. He slurped his slides unsexily and failed to swing the rhythms. The third prelude was better, but the sound was still outmatched by Bell's gymnastic routines.

The program finished with one of the most popular showpieces for the violin, Zigeurnerweisen. The performance was impeccable, with moving lyricism in the right parts and diamond clarity on the runs. Bell's technique is impressive when it wants to be, drawing more than a few gasps from audience members articulating that point. Bell is a born performer, and his flair for drama often reached the audience deeply. Unfortunately, the final tempo of Zigeurneweisen was even a little fast for Bell, and the piece ended muddily. The audience demanded an encore, and was rewarded with Gershwin's It Ain't Necessarily So, in which Mulligan got to show off his jazz ability in some able improvisation.

While Joshua Bell's performance was by no means sub-par, there was a certain level of excitement missing that has also been lacking in other classical visitors to Oberlin this year. Perhaps the reason is extra-musical. Perhaps somebody has been taking our performers out for big heavy meals and they're getting sleepy on stage. We are lucky here at Oberlin to have a fantastic concert series and get performances from some of the best classical artists in the world. Still, one might find one's self waiting to hear something exceptional and transcendent rather than just the perfection that today's market requires.