Last week our friends Al and Stew came in from San Miguel de Allende (about four hours away by bus) to spend some time in Mexico City. They wanted to see a couple of concerts featuring world-famous violinists, Joshua Bell and Gil Shaham. Both concerts were to be held at Sala Netzahualcoyotl, the music hall on the campus of UNAM (the National University of Mexico).
The Joshua Bell concert was last Thursday. I had never been to Sala Netzahualcoyotl before, and I was very impressed by the building.
It was built in 1976 and is considered one of the most important concert halls in Latin America.
The program consisted of two works... Saint Saens' Cello Concerto in A Minor with soloist Ivan Koulikov, and the Violin Concerto in B Minor with Bell.
The concert was pleasant, but, frankly, I was not really "wowed" by it. The orchestra was a group called "Camarata Opus 11". Coming from Cleveland, home of one of the greatest orchestras in the world, I guess I am a bit of a music snob. The "Camarata" was competent, but it cannot hold a candle to the Cleveland Orchestra. In spite of his fame, I was not that impressed with Joshua Bell's performance. Later, I read in a number of places that Bell has a reputation for rudeness, arrogance and inappropriate behavior.
On Saturday night, we returned to the same venue for a concert by the Philharmonic Orchestra of UNAM. The featured soloist was Gil Shaham in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto.
This concert was much more enjoyable. The UNAM orchestra is larger and is far superior to the "Camarata". (OK, it's still not the Cleveland Orchestra, but it is very good.) Founded in 1936, it is the oldest symphonic group in Mexico. Gil Shaham's performance was marvelous, He seems like an unpretentious, nice guy. He had a smile on his face throughout the entire concerto and a good rapport with the orchestra.
Thanks to Al and Stew. I would have never known about the concerts if they had not told me about them!
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