Itzhak Perlman at Carnegie Hall Cements His Reign as Violin Virtuoso — and Plays a Masterpiece in a Minor Key

Itzhak Perlman’s performance this week at Carnegie Hall alongside the Colorado Symphony was vintage virtuoso, putting on full display the craft and charisma that have characterized the 80 year-old musician for decades. Mr. Perlman wasn’t on stage for a long time, but he was clearly having a good time, bantering with the masses and the maestro, Peter Oundjian, alike. A fire-hydrant red motorized scooter offered a jaunty concession to age. The Tel Aviv-born Mr. Perlman appeared eager to talk as well as play, at one point asking the crowd at Stern Auditorium who starred alongside Al Pacino in the 1992 film, “Scent of a Woman.” Nobody, including Mr. Perlmen, knew — it’s Gabrielle Anwar — but he proceeded to play the movie’s famous tango song, Por una Cabeza, anyway. A disclaimer about how Mr. Perlman hadn’t practiced — in jest — gave way to a sultry and smoky rendition.Decidedly unjaunty was Mr. Perlman’s performance of one of his signatures — the theme song from Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” a masterpiece in a minor key. One sensed a certain reluctance on Mr. Perlman’s part to play a score that has become, for many, inseparable from his 1714 “Soil” Stradivarius, purchased from fellow virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin. Mr. Perlman, though, has always maintained close ties with the sounds of the shtetl and klezmer.In November Mr. Perlman reflected on what it’s like to wield one of the world’s great instruments. He told the Times that “no matter what violin I play, it’ll sound like me. I’m not trying to give myself a compliment. I’m just trying to tell you that it’s a personal thing. The thing about the Strad is that it helps the player to produce the sound they want.” He owes the start of his touring career to the Zionist Organization of America. Mr. Perlman told his audience, though, that before he signed on to Mr. Spielberg’s Holocaust epic he received a phone call from the composer and conductor John Williams, who has been nominated for more Academy Awards — 52 — than anyone not named Walt Disney. Mr. Williams asked if he’d like to play a score. Mr. Perlman responded that he would “think about it.” His wife Toby questioned his sanity for turning down the opportunity.Mr. Perlman also played Antonín Dvořák’s “Romance in F minor,” showcasing a voluptuous tone and unhurried warmth that seemed drawn from a long Prague afternoon inflected by storytelling of a distinctly Mitteleuropa milieu. Of a similar continental flavoring were Mr. Perlman’s renditions of a set of miniatures from the storied Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler, a giant of an earlier age. Mr. Perlman captures the drama and decadence of fin de siècle Vienna.Mr. Perlman captures the drama and decadence of fin de siècle Vienna. Mr. Perlman’s performance was followed by a standing ovation of some 10 minutes and no less than three curtain calls.

Itzhak Perlman at Carnegie Hall Cements His Reign as Violin Virtuoso — and Plays a Masterpiece in a Minor Key

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